


Butterflies

by secooper87



Series: The Child of Balime [38]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms
Genre: Action/Adventure, Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-01
Updated: 2014-03-14
Packaged: 2018-01-14 04:12:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 24,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1252339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secooper87/pseuds/secooper87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One small event, buried in a person's past, can grow into a hurricane.  Jenny's learned that the hard way, growing up on her own, after her dad left her.  And she continues to learn, now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For all you confused readers out there, this story is the third in a trilogy of stories that all occur in rapid succession, in my Child of Balime series, and all focus on Jenny. "The Totos and the Vanguard", "Green-Eyed Monster", and "Butterflies." Just keep reading, and you'll probably figure out what the heck is going on, pretty soon.

_An inhuman scream blasted down from the mountaintop._

_Yet Jenny climbed._

_Her breath ragged, her hair a mess, dark circles lingering beneath her eyes. But she kept the old man with the proud stance in her sight at all times. Followed him with every bit of strength she had in her._

_As the echoes of the scream faded, the old man stopped._

_Behind him, Jenny stopped, too._

_Trying to find someplace to hide. But — he had lingered in an open area. And she was caught out._

_"You've been following me since the village," said the old man._

_He turned to face her. His leather armor dark and worn, crinkled and creased like his face. His white hair blowing in the mountain wind. His dust-brown eyes looking so very wise, so very old…_

_Another screech from up above._

_The monster that had plagued the village._

_"I… wanted to talk to you," Jenny explained. She felt her breathing getting even heavier, as she searched for the right words. "I need help."_

_"You sought me out," the old man said. "But would rather hide than face me."_

_Jenny didn't know how to answer that._

_The old man advanced on her. "The girl who runs and runs, and doesn't know what she's running from or where she's going," he observed, his hands clasped. "Seeking help from someone like me." He shook his head. "Do you know who I am, child?"_

_Jenny shuffled, awkwardly._

_"The villagers said you were… Aychron," said Jenny. "One of the Wsartor. And a mythical warrior." She paused. Then, in a more desperate voice, "They said… you always win against the monsters."_

_Aychron examined her. His stance proud. But his eyes gentle and kind._

_"Please," said Jenny. "I need help. I keep trying to save people, but… it… always goes wrong, in the end. I don't—"_

_"You have done some terrible things," Aychron understood. "As a result of your own folly."_

_Jenny couldn't deny that._

_Only four months old, and she'd already watched worlds destroyed. People massacred. She'd tried so hard to save everyone, but she didn't know how._

_Her 'help' only made things worse._

_"I never meant to," Jenny said. "I tried to stop it. But… I failed."_

_Aychron nodded._

_"Please," said Jenny. "Teach me. I've got no one."_

_Aychron gave her a kind smile. Then turned around, gesturing for her to follow him. "If that's the case," he said, "then I_ must _teach you."_

* * *

Jenny opened the doors to Seo's ship.

Then grinned, as she stepped outside, gesturing around herself.

"The planet Totania," Jenny announced to the others, who were still emerging. Seo grabbing onto Buffy by the arm, so tight, it looked like they might wind up fused together if they stayed that way too long. "In the distant future, relative to the 21st century."

"And there are hospitals here that can treat Mom?" Seo asked.

The wind brushed back Jenny's hair, as she spun around to face them. "Of course! See, back about 75 years ago, there was a rather nasty dictator who usurped the government. He was obsessed with developing time travel. Put all his best people on it. He failed to actually travel, but still managed to create a large number of very nasty temporally complicated illnesses that spread through the population."

"Which is why you brought me here," Buffy sighed.

"They'll be able to detect a time-phased tumor easily, here," Jenny replied. "Be able to remove it so that it causes you no harm at all. After the time travel obsessed dictator was toppled by the current one, all that temporal research was poured into developing cures for temporal illnesses. It's the only place like it in the universe."

"That you know of," Seo qualified.

Jenny ignored that.

Just gestured at them to follow her, and zipped off towards a distant building. "Follow me!" she called. "I have an old friend, here. Whatever is wrong, he'll be able to fix it. I promise."

* * *

Seo had thought this planet looked familiar.

She couldn't place it, though, until she entered the hospital, and saw all the orange-skinned people around them. Then realized… this metropolitan cityscape…

"This is where we were before!" Seo said, spinning on Jenny. "With the Totos and the Vanguard."

"Totans and the Vngor," Jenny corrected. She crossed her arms. "Why do you think I was so adamant about making sure the Totans weren't wiped out in their own past? I knew this place was waiting in their future!"

Seo quirked an eyebrow, as Jenny kept receiving nods and smiles from the nurses and staff around her, as the three headed towards the reception desk.

Jenny had said she'd never been to the Totan's future.

That she'd only ever read about it in books.

"Jenny!" the receptionist said, with a smile. Then, in a lower voice, "How are you holding up?"

Jenny leaned against the reception desk. "Good. Very good." Shrugged. "Built myself a time machine. Started wandering through all of time and space. For me it's been… about… 50 years since we last spoke. Maybe more."

Seo was expecting at least a little shock and alarm from the receptionist over this, but the receptionist just nodded, as if she'd expected it.

"Is Dr. Otman in?" Jenny asked. She gestured at Seo and Buffy. "I have some friends…" She trailed off, glancing back at the two. "Family," she corrected, "I'd like him to take a look at."

"I'll see what I can do," said the receptionist.

As she began to make phone calls.

Seo stepped forwards, towards Jenny. "They all know you."

Jenny didn't answer.

"Even though," Seo continued, "you said you'd never been to this planet's future, before."

A sheepish grin spread across Jenny's face. "Well… maybe I've dropped in once or twice," she said, with a shrug. "Saved their world from time to time."

Buffy, in the meantime, was hanging back. Looking around herself, warily, her fighting-stance on standby.

She eyed all the different alien species around her with suspicion.

"Your mum," Jenny cut in, "she… _has_ met aliens before. Right?"

Buffy snapped her head around. "Enough to know which kinds are which." Her voice lowered, as she stepped towards Seo and Jenny. Her stance definitely defensive. "And a lot of these races have tried to end the world multiple times."

Buffy's eyes were fixed on a yellow lizard-like creature, standing by the coffee machine.

Jenny frowned, puzzled. Then laughed, as she realized. "Twenty-first century. Yes, I suppose the Yyrinx would have, back then." She leaned back against the reception desk. "Then, in the 35th century, they wound up in the middle of a war that nearly wiped out their whole race. A religious change swept across the Yyrinx, in response. And now… they're entirely peaceful."

Buffy dropped some of her fighting stance. "Oh."

But she was still keeping herself ready for anything, just in case.

"Jenny?" came a man's voice.

Jenny turned around.

Then rushed forwards, to shake the hand of the middle-aged, orange-skinned Totan doctor that had just entered the reception area. The two of them conversing in quiet tones.

Seo looked on. Thinking.

"You're seriously going to get an alien to cure me?" Buffy shook her head. "I was better off taking my chances back on Earth."

"Jenny thinks this can help," said Seo. Taking her mom by the arm, and leading her forwards. "And she seems to know him." Seo's brow furrowed. "Extremely well."

Jenny glanced over her shoulder, at Seo and Buffy, as they came into earshot. Then put an arm around Buffy's shoulders.

"That's her?" Dr. Otman asked, adjusting his glasses.

"Human," Jenny confirmed. Hesitated. Then added, "You've worked on humans, before, right?"

"These days, you can't get a medical degree without experience dealing with humans," said Dr. Otman. Examining Buffy, closely, as if trying to pick up something no one else could see. "They settle everywhere."

Buffy stepped away from Dr. Otman. A little defensively.

Apparently, she wasn't reassured.

But Seo wasn't about to let her get away that easily. She tightened her grip on her mom's arm, and dragged her back.

"Let's go up to my office," Dr. Otman said. "We can talk there."

* * *

He listened to all the symptoms.

Took in the entire history of what had happened to Buffy, across her life.

"I can see why you thought it was temporal," Dr. Otman said, at the end. He scribbled down some notes, on a sheet of paper. Then tore it off. "We'll have to run some tests. Measure your chrononic readings across a standard interval of time, and see how that affects your biology."

Buffy crossed her arms. "You're not gonna stick a bunch of alien probes into me?"

"You'll be all right," Jenny reassured her. "Trust me."

Buffy looked over at Jenny.

Still hesitant.

Then, reluctantly, gave a sigh and a nod.

"Just don't kill me by accident or anything," Buffy told Dr. Otman. "Willow's done way too much bringing-back-to-life already, and I don't want her to do it again."

Dr. Otman gave Buffy a reassuring smile, and a firm hand-shake. "I've encountered humans with temporal illnesses many times. You're in the best hands."

Jenny sprung to her feet. Swishing her ponytail back over her shoulder.

"Well," Jenny announced, grabbing up Seo by the arm, and dragging her away. "We'd better let them get on with it. After all. We've got things to do, while we're waiting. Authoritarian regimes to topple. Evil dictators to…"

Dr. Otman gave a small laugh.

"You're about two years too late, Jenny," he said. "Someone's beat you to it."

Jenny froze.

Staring.

"What?!" she cried.


	2. Chapter 2

Seo and Jenny stood on the streets of the city, in front of the palace-turned-democratic-assembly-house. Watching the democratically elected representatives gather on the steps, debating policy.

"It has to be a trick," Jenny muttered. "Something Candoziar Recco set up, to make the people feel free, which he can manipulate behind the scenes."

Seo frowned. Reflecting.

"I mean, whatever toppled Recco, it wasn't a revolution," Jenny said. Gestured at the palace in front of them. "The palace would be in far worse shape if it had suffered through an upheaval like that." She began to pace, uneasily. "It _has_ to be some kind of manipulation at work. It just _has_ to…"

"Have _you_ been manipulating _me_?" Seo cut in.

Jenny paused.

"I'm not thick," Seo reminded her sister. "You've been here before. You knew there was a dictator around. You wanted to topple him."

Jenny sighed. "Seo, it's not…"

"Did you ever care about Mom?" Seo asked. "Or did you just dump her in a random hospital, on a planet you wanted to visit, anyways — for your own purposes. As an excuse to come here?"

Jenny slouched against the railing in front of the palace. "It's… more complicated than that," she insisted. Looked right into Seo's eyes, her voice full of concern and begging her for some trust. "I really did come here because of Dr. Otman. He's the leading expert on this sort of thing. If there's anything that can be done for your mum… he will do it."

Seo didn't move.

But she softened, a little.

"I just thought… since we were here," Jenny went on, "that we could take care of… a few other things. At the same time."

"So why did you lie, when we first met," Seo asked, in a relenting voice, "about not having been here in this planet's future? I would have still liked you, even if you'd told the truth."

Jenny didn't answer.

"I'm not angry or anything," Seo said. "I just want to know."

Jenny turned back to the palace, ignoring this. Instead focusing, hard, on the area around her.

"I can _feel_ it," Jenny said. Bit her tongue, her brow furrowed in intense concentration, as if trying to feel out some kind of bump in a mental landscape. Then shook her head. "Definitely feel it. Written into time. The existence of a dictatorship on this planet is fixed in time. Until this month of this year. That's why I came here now!"

Seo quirked an eyebrow at Jenny, pointedly.

"It couldn't have been toppled two years ago!" Jenny decided. "Temporally speaking, it's impossible. Not unless someone was mucking about with time."

Once again, the pointed look from Seo.

"But who?" said Jenny. "Who could have gone back into this planet's past, and changed around…?"

"We met in this planet's past," Seo cut in, realizing Jenny wasn't getting her hints. "Remember?"

Jenny stopped.

Her eyes going wide, because she knew — Seo was right. And she had completely overlooked it.

"We _fixed_ the timeline, though," Jenny insisted. "We didn't…!" Hesitated. Then, in a lower voice, "You don't think we accidentally changed something else while we were back there, right?"

Seo shrugged. "Must have been the butterflies!" she decided, bouncing on her toes, the hints of a smile on her face. "I didn't step on any. Did you?"

Jenny turned back to the palace. "Be serious."

"I wonder if stepping on different species of butterflies winds up changing different things," Seo offered, stepping up beside Jenny. "Perhaps, to get a democracy, you have to squash a _monarch_ butterfly."

"One butterfly topples a dictatorship," Jenny echoed, her voice far away. She gave an irritated sigh. "And I really wanted to topple Recco's myself."

"Technically speaking," came a male voice from not far away, "no one 'toppled' the dictatorship. Candoziar Recco voluntarily stepped down from power, setting up a fair and balanced democratic system in his wake."

Jenny and Seo spun around.

Jenny's face broke into a wide grin, as she raced forwards and swept the human man standing to their right into a great big hug. "Alan!"

"It's been a while," said Alan. "Tired of running around the universe, fighting off monsters and defending innocents?"

"Never," Jenny replied. She pulled away, stepped back, and gestured at Alan. "Seo, this is my friend, Alan. He's an investigative reporter for Earth Empire, who's been living here as a foreign correspondent. I saved him from the Wyxil, during their invasion of the Ceremony of Dafol, some time ago." She gestured at Seo. "Alan, this is my friend…" Jenny paused, frowning. Then corrected, "…my _sister_ , Seo."

"Sister?" said Alan, shaking Seo's hand. He chuckled. "I thought Jenny was one-of-a-kind."

Seo wasn't interested in hashing out the details of her and Jenny's meeting yet again. No. Something Alan had said peaked her curiosity.

"The dictator _voluntarily_ stepped down?" Seo clarified.

Alan shrugged. "No one here can believe it, either," he admitted. "But it's what happened. The people began holding public demonstrations, and Recco just decided… if they didn't want a dictatorship, they shouldn't have one. He resigned power."

Seo and Jenny exchanged a look.

Neither could really believe it.

"That doesn't sound like the Recco I remember," Jenny said. She turned back to Alan. "And I suppose you're snooping around the palace in order to work out why he resigned? Track down some conspiracy?"

Alan laughed. "Already did! That's old news." Put his hands into his pockets. "No. Currently, I'm investigating the Cult of Erodz."

Jenny frowned, deeply.

Looked over at Seo for clues, but Seo just shrugged.

Jenny turned back to Alan. "Sorry, the Cult of… what?"

"You haven't heard of it?" Alan said. He waved his hand, expansively. "It's swept across at least twelve star systems by now. Spreading like wildfire. No one in Earth Empire can figure out what it's about or why it's growing so quickly. But Erodz Ternor is its leader, so a lot of people are worried."

"Erodz Ternor," Jenny repeating, musing the name over. "Why does that sound familiar?"

"Dictator of Tryxoi 7?" Alan prompted.

Jenny snapped her fingers, grinning. "Yes! I've been there! Or… will be, about 500 years from now." She paused. Thinking. "Erodz Ternor. Also known as Choice Leader Erodz. Wasn't he one of the most brutal and horrible dictators in the history of that planet?"

"That's the one," said Alan.

Seo quirked an eyebrow. "Choice Leader?"

"It always helps, when you're a megalomaniacal dictator, to claim you're chosen by the people," Jenny dismissed. "Then you can disappear any people who _don't_ choose you." She turned back to Alan. "But how did Erodz turn from tyrannical dictator to cult leader?"

Alan shrugged. "That's what I'm trying to find out. Earth Empire rumors believe that Erodz has got his hands on some kind of powerful brainwashing equipment with a range of several thousand parsecs. They're worried it'll spread further."

Jenny brushed her hair back. Thinking it through, furiously. "I don't know of anything, off-hand, with that kind of range," she admitted. "Although if he'd set up outposts on different worlds, he might be using numerous devices with a short range in order to…"

"Yes!" Alan jumped in, eagerly. "That makes sense. And if they're all linked together in some sort of daisy chain, and there's a relay station on this world — you and your sister find it! Then we can break the whole chain in one single—"

"You know, that's a _lot_ of squashed monarch butterflies," Seo said, eyes twinkling in the sunlight.

Alan and Jenny paused.

Turning to Seo, confused. "Butterflies?"

"Just a guess," Seo explained herself, "but… this 'Erodz'. When he resigned. There wasn't a revolution on _his_ planet, either, right?"

Alan hesitated. "Well… now that you mention it…"

Jenny stared.

Seo cracking a grin.

"It was sensational in the media at the time," Alan told them. "Erodz just… stepped down. Voluntarily. Set up a fair and impartial democratic government… in… his…"

Alan trailed off.

As the truth suddenly dawned on him.

"And the other places where this cult is popular?" Seo continued, bouncing on her toes, face lighting up with her own brilliance. "I'm betting it's the same thing, there. Evil dictator mysteriously steps down, sets up a democratic government in his place."

Alan took a notebook out of his pocket. Began flipping through it, examining his notes.

"Why didn't I see that?" Jenny berated herself. "It's so obvious! Seo's right — dictators like Erodz and Recco don't just 'step down'. They're doing it to gain even more power than they had before."

"Which means we're not the cause of this," Seo added. Grinned. "Which is good, because — I quite like butterflies. Particularly unsquashed ones."

"But some of these planets had dictators that voluntarily stepped down centuries ago!" Alan said, gesturing down at his notepad. "Sometimes millennia! How could…?"

Seo beamed. "Easy! Jenny said that one of the dictators on Totania had tried but failed to develop time travel. What if… he hadn't failed as much as everyone thought?"

Jenny and Alan looked at one another.

Realizing this might be far worse than either of them had ever thought.

"Alan," said Jenny, her face hard, her voice low, "what does this Cult of Erodz actually believe?"

"No one's sure, exactly," Alan admitted. "Only members of the cult have access to the specific details and names and things. But I've scrapped what I can together, from research." He flipped some pages in his notebook, then pressed his thumb down on the paper, which scanned his thumbprint, and made words appear floating on its surface. "They believe Erodz is a god, of course."

"Naturally," Jenny agreed.

"And the cult believes," Alan continued, "that they must obey and have unwavering faith in him — because Erodz alone can protect them from their anti-god — the bane of their existence, the devil incarnate, the…"

Alan stopped.

His eyes growing wide.

Then snapped the notebook shut. Grabbed Seo up by the wrist. "We need to get out of here. _You_ need to get out of here."

"She?" said Jenny, confused. "But…"

Alan began to run in the other direction, dragging Seo along after him. "Jenny, your ship's parked in space port terminal Epsilon. The secret panel at the back should access it. Some friends of yours discovered it a while back — luckily, no one had been able to break in, before — and we've been keeping it safe ever since."

"My ship!" Jenny cried.

Come to think of it, leaving an un-enterable time machine lying around this planet for much of its history might have something to do with why the dictators on Totania had been so obsessed with time travel.

"But what's wrong with me?" Seo put in. "Is it because Erodz heard I can destroy gods, and he's now worried? Or is it…?"

Seo never got to finish.

Before a group of black-robed people with hoods drawn up over their heads suddenly dropped down on the trio — as if from nowhere — throwing a device onto the pavement that exploded into a thick gas.

Jenny, Alan, and Seo all began coughing, violently, as the gas obscured their vision, and Seo was wrenched from Alan's grip.

Alan collapsed to the ground, unconscious in an instant.

"Stop it! Get off me!" Seo shouted.

The sounds of a scuffle broke through the now-nearly-opaque gas.

Jenny darted forwards into the worst of the gas, holding her breath for as long as she could. She already felt the gas boring into her, as if through osmosis, trying to make her drowsy and dizzy and sluggish, but Jenny stubbornly put that aside.

And struck out.

Fighting hand and foot, with every ounce of strength and stubborn willpower she had in her. Punching and striking and hitting, as she made out Seo's figure in the middle of the smoke, already limp and unconscious.

Grabbed her out of the reach of the thugs, and turned to run…

A shot rang through the air.

And Jenny cried out, her time sense overloaded. It broke her concentration against the gas, just for a split second… but it was enough.

She felt Seo pulled from her arms…

As Jenny was plunged into darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

_Jenny threw the book down, irritated. "When I said, 'help me learn to fight evil monsters'," she hissed, "this wasn't what I had in mind."_

_Aychron didn't look up from the book he was perusing. Just pointed to the "Quiet in the library" sign overhead._

_Jenny wasn't feeling quiet._

_Not at all._

_"There are people being killed out there!" Jenny insisted — not lowering her voice. "Why are we sitting here… reading?! I was born a soldier — find me some weapons and I'll hunt that monster down!"_

_"The best weapon," Aychron said, in his soft but commanding voice, "is knowledge. Preparation. Careful thought and careful—"_

_"'—and careful planning', I remember," Jenny muttered. She'd heard this sort of thing from him over and over again, since he'd first begun teaching her. She clenched her fists. "But not this time. Not when it's so obvious what we're facing is evil and has to be destroyed."_

_Aychron looked up from his book._

_"You can't leap in front of the bullet every time," he told her. His eyes boring deep into Jenny's. "Sometimes… the bullet finds its mark, anyways."_

_Jenny turned away, irritated._

_"If it bothers you so much," she snapped, charging out of the library, "stop me."_

_Aychron looked after her._

_Then sighed, and got back to his book. "I've tried before," he muttered. "It never seems to work."_

* * *

_It had been going perfectly._

_Until it all went wrong._

_The young girl who'd led Jenny to the cave where the monster was hiding had been terrified. Shaking and trembling, squeezing Jenny's hand to stop herself crying out. As Jenny examined the monster, carefully, looking for weak spots._

_Found it._

_With a carefully aimed shot, Jenny had pierced the monster in its heart._

_But the moment the bullet punctured the skin, the monster dispersed into the air. The bullet striking the wall, behind. The little bits of the monster still sparkling in the air around them, before beginning to draw back together._

_"Run!" Jenny shouted at her young friend._

_But the monster had reformed just behind them, blocking the exit. Unthinking, unfeeling, just a hungry, ravenous beast that could smell food._

_And knew easy prey when he saw it._

_Jenny felt the girl's hand slip from hers, heard the terrified scream. Turned around just in time to see the monster bite the girl's head clean off, the body falling limp in its hands._

_Jenny, for a few long moments, couldn't move._

_Couldn't think._

_As the monster munched on its latest meal. Content._

_"No," Jenny said. Feeling anger build inside of her. "I'll kill you for that!"_

_She sprung at the monster, shooting wildly, overcome with rage and guilt and horror. Her brain had shut down, and she didn't care, because she had to get this creature back for what it had done. She had to…!_

_The creature dispersed into the air, missing the shots._

_Reappeared just in front of Jenny, before she could slow down. Its hands wrapping around her, too tight for her to escape._

_It seemed intrigued by her. Like she was a toy._

_It began to squeeze, poking at her skin and scraping its nails across her body. She struggled, kicking and fighting and trying to get out of this, but the monster didn't notice. Didn't care._

_It put one giant hand across her throat, and began to press down. Seeing what would happen._

_A sudden wave of panic spread through Jenny._

_This was it._

_She'd killed a child, was going to die, herself, die for no reason at all — and all because she'd been stupid and impatient, hadn't thought ahead or planned like Aychron had said! Dying for a moment of stupidity…_

_The monster's hands suddenly let go, as it howled. Then shuddered back, its form seeming to drip and melt under the barrage of… something._

_Something being thrown by the villagers, with Aychron leading their assault._

_They were… throwing…_

_Rock salt._

_Jenny struggled to get up to a sitting position, gasping for air. As the monster gave a moan of pain, and then melted completely upon the cave floor._

_A gentle hand took hers._

_Helped her to her feet, where she was forced to face down the stern, thunderous look from her mentor and dearest friend._

_A short ways away, the villagers were racing over to the dead body of the village girl Jenny had taken along. Their voices crying out in alarm and grief, as they saw what had happened._

_"I did that," Jenny whispered. It made her sick, just thinking about it. "But I thought I could save her. I thought—"_

_"No," Aychron said. His voice like ice. "You didn't 'think'. You ran. Ran right into danger, and she—" pointing, "—paid the price."_

_Jenny felt the guilt rising inside her._

_"Don't take on responsibility for the lives of others," Aychron warned, his voice dark and dangerous, "until you can act responsibly, yourself. Do you understand?"_

_"Yes," Jenny breathed._

_And so she learned._

* * *

Jenny's eyes opened to the sight of a bright purple sky.

And for a few moments, she couldn't remember when she was or what she'd been doing. Sat up, suddenly, looking around herself for people long gone and a past she'd left behind.

Then she blinked.

And it all came back to her.

Seo. The Cult of Erodz. Alan and the gas and the time technology that had knocked her out.

There was no sign of the black-hooded thugs, anymore. No sign of Seo.

Just an empty street, and Alan lying on the pavement, some ways off.

"Alan," said Jenny, stumbling to her feet and racing over to him. She knelt down by him, shaking him. "Alan!"

Alan groaned.

Opened his eyes, rubbing his head.

"Was that them?" Jenny demanded. "The hooded figures? Was that the cult?"

Alan sat up, with a groan. "Yes," he said. "Yes, that was the Cult of Erodz. I recognized the insignia on their robes." He looked around himself. His face sliding into concern. "We were too late, weren't we? They took your sister."

"You knew they would," Jenny charged. Got right in his face. "How did you know? What are you hiding?"

Alan threw up his hands in protest. "It's not like that!" he insisted. "It was…" He hesitated, just a moment too long. Then fished the notepad out of his pocket. "The name. Seo. I knew it sounded familiar. I just… well… when I did the research, I'd always assumed it was a _man_."

"What was?" Jenny demanded.

"Their anti-god," said Alan. He read off the notepad. "Seo, the Destroyer. Seo, the Darkness. Seo, the embodiment of evil."

Jenny sat back. Her eyes fixed on him, steadily.

"I didn't make the connection with your sister until just now," Alan said. Snapping the notepad shut. "It occurred to me that… if she's your sister, and can do half the things you can do... perhaps they're talking about her."

Jenny didn't answer.

Her face frozen in a hard expression.

"If she's a time traveler, perhaps… she's done something, in the past," Alan proposed. "Something that's changed—!"

"She steps on a butterfly," Jenny cut in, flatly, "and now twelve solar systems think she's the devil?"

Alan gave a sheepish grin. "It's a possibility."

Jenny sighed.

Then took Alan by the hand, and helped him to his feet.

"We better go after her," said Jenny. "I'll ask around the space port. Find all outgoing flights. Track down their ship using the engine signature. We'll use your shuttle to follow them to—"

"No!" shouted Alan.

Jenny leveled a dark stare at him.

"I mean…" Alan winced. Trying to backpedal. "If there is a relay station here on Totania, forming some sort of psychic daisy chain, brainwashing people, shouldn't you stay behind to track down…?"

"You can stop pretending, Alan." Jenny grabbed him up by the wrist, holding him in place so he couldn't run. Stared him in the eye. "I know the difference between someone who's unconscious," she said, "and someone who's just pretending. And I know…" Reaching into his breast pocket and grabbing out the communicator, "that this wasn't in your breast pocket, before."

Alan tried to grab the phone back.

But Jenny had already slipped the communicator into her own pocket, for future reference. "You woke up first," said Jenny. "Called someone. And I remember, earlier — you told me that no one except members of the cult knew the name of their anti-god. But _you_ knew it. You were looking for her."

Alan's voice lowered, his eyes pleading. "Jenny, please," he begged, "don't go after the cult! Not _you_.You have to believe me."

"Did you lead her to them?" Jenny demanded.

"I was trying to lead her away!" Alan insisted. He tried to twist his wrist out of Jenny's grip, but couldn't. "It's not what you think. I'm undercover. On a mission! I… can't tell you more." His voice became even more desperate. "I'll save her. Get her out of there. Promise. Just don't go to the cult, Jenny. Please, I'm begging you! I… I can't bear to lose you."

Jenny turned towards the spaceport. "Don't worry about that," she said. "You never had me to begin with."

"You don't know what you're walking into!" Alan shouted.

Not yet.

But she would.

Once she'd used the interstellar journey to tinker with Alan's comms link. Work out what was going on. Learn all she needed to, before she arrived. Learn the rest upon arrival, speaking to people around town.

After all.

She wasn't running into danger without some knowledge under her sleeve.

She'd learned her lesson about that long, long ago.

* * *

Seo came to, the first time, wired up to a machine. Watching as a short, angry-looking man with moppy brown hair and an intense face sculpted with utter hatred activated something on a dashboard panel that looked like it was wired directly into her brain.

Something that looked like it was going to hurt.

Seo squeezed her eyes shut, preparing.

A second went by.

Two.

And nothing happened.

Seo peeled her eyes open.

She saw the angry-looking, intense man hunched over the machinery, furious, his face red. Heard him as he began shouting at a tall-looking woman in black robes, standing beside him.

The woman seemed flustered.

Her apologies to the leader for her failure interrupted by continual nervous glances at Seo.

"…Lord Erodz, my master and my god," the woman was saying, "it's… it's not that simple. She doesn't seem to show up on any of the scans. I don't understand—"

"Then find a way!" shouted the man who must be Erodz.

(Just Seo's luck.)

"I… I don't know a way!" the woman insisted. "I'm sorry, Lord Erodz. I've never seen anything like it! I… I can't…"

Erodz pulled out a gun from his pocket, aiming it at the woman.

And he looked angry enough to actually shoot.

"Please," said the woman, stepping back, steadily, her hands raised. "Please, Lord Erodz. I want to obey your commands. I really do! But… just look at her! Is this really the right person? Is this really the Evil Lord of Darkness? She looks… well…"

"Human?" Erodz shook his head. "A deception. A guise. She is the devil." His voice lowered. "And you have failed me in my persecution of her. I don't deal well with failure, Theresa."

"No, please!" Theresa pleaded. "I'll… I'll try harder! I promise, I'll—"

"Oh, cut her a break," Seo interrupted, jumping off the table and undoing the metal device from her head. "It's not her fault she failed." She tapped the headset. "Devices like these never pick me up."

Theresa flicked her eyes over to Seo.

And for a few seconds, Theresa seemed even more flustered than before.

"She's awake?!" Erodz's voice was etched with a hint of panic. He spun on Theresa. "Fix this, now!"

Theresa bowed her head in compliance. Then, quicker than Seo had time to register, Theresa had a gun in her hands, the sound echoing through their ears as she pulled the trigger, and a small dart embedded itself into Seo's chest. Seo tried to pick it out, but already, she felt herself growing sluggish. That was the problem with two hearts — anything injected into the bloodstream worked twice as fast.

She stumbled.

Then slumped against the floor, as her world faded into black.


	4. Chapter 4

On the shuttle, Jenny frowned, deeply, as she examined the readouts from Alan's communicator.

She was good at this sort of thing. Should have been able to immediately know who he was calling, and where. Even trace back the feed and re-establish the link. But… no. There was nothing. Someone had been clever enough to block all Jenny's attempts to isolate the feed.

Jenny put down the communicator.

Thinking, hard.

Whomever this was, they weren't just clever. No — they'd blocked her tracing methods too exactly. As if they'd been _expecting_ her to do this. As if they'd known, beforehand, exactly what Jenny would do… to…

Jenny sat upright, suddenly.

Wait.

The gas designed to knock out someone with a respiratory bypass system. The temporal gun used to stun her. The abduction of the sister Jenny had only just learned she had…

"This is deliberate," Jenny muttered. "Someone was expecting me."

Who?

She thought through the ever-growing list of races she'd thwarted who now hated her, and crossing off the ones that didn't have the right technology level. But it still didn't make sense.

If this was one of her enemies… why take Seo and leave Jenny alive? Why not kill her when they had the chance?

"Listen, Jenny," Alan said, coming over to her. "I'm on your side. I promise."

Jenny ignored him.

Just kept thinking. Someone who knew her. Knew how her biology worked. Knew her connection with Totania. Knew — even before Jenny did — that she had a…

Wait.

"I want to get your sister back as much as you do," Alan explained. "That's why I was calling the headquarters!"

Jenny didn't look back at him. Kept her eyes fixed out the window, at the empty vacuum of space. "How can I have a sister?" she asked him, quietly.

Alan blinked. Confused. "What?"

"The question you didn't ask," Jenny explained. Still fiddling with the communicator, idly. "You know how I was born. You know it's impossible for me to have any other family besides my dad. But you weren't surprised to learn she was my sister."

Alan frowned. Scratched his head. "I… never really thought about it."

"Then you were the only one who didn't," Jenny replied. Thinking through all the myriad of reactions from Seo's friends and family towards her. So different from Alan's. "No. No, you weren't surprised I had a sister… because you already _knew_ I had one."

Alan was clearly trying to keep his face blank.

But the twitch of his nose told otherwise.

"I'm right!" Jenny said. Pointing at it. "I know your tell, Alan. I've watched you bluff your way out of far too many scrapes not to know, by this point!"

"Jenny, it's… not like it sounds," Alan tried. "I just wanted to protect you."

Jenny jumped up from her seat. Staring right into his eyes. "How could you betray me?" she accused. "After everything we did together! Everything we _were_ to each other!"

"Jenny…"

"No matter what the odds, no matter what monsters we fought, no matter where we were or what we were up to or what situation we were in," said Jenny, "I always thought I could trust you."

"And you still can!" Alan insisted. "Jenny, believe me. I'd never hurt you. Never betray you! You know that!"

Jenny paused.

She'd thought she'd known it. Now… she wasn't so sure.

"It's all part of my mission," Alan continued. "I'm on your side! Honest!"

Mission…

Ah.

"You're not working for the cult at all," Jenny realized. Sitting back down, and looking at the comms link, again. "You're infiltrating them on behalf of someone else. Someone with advanced technology. Someone interested in _her_."

Alan grabbed a chair, sat across from her. "I said I'd always help you," he said. "And I stand by it. Even now. I'll get her back, Jenny. Promise. It's just…" He hesitated. Then, in a half-whisper, "When did you meet her?"

Jenny didn't answer.

"How long have you known her?" Alan continued. "Longer than you've known me?" He leaned forwards. "So why trust her, and not me? What if she's lying to you?"

"She isn't," Jenny replied.

"You don't know her motives," Alan said. "You remember mine. I've always been there for you. When you needed me most. You remember that."

Jenny looked away. "That was a long time ago."

"For you, maybe," said Alan. "Not for me." He took her hand in his, and it felt right, somehow. Natural. Even after all that time. "Thing is… I've been doing some thinking of my own, since we took off from Totania. This 'sister' of yours… I don't trust her. She knew too much about the cult, right from the start. Knew about the dictators and why the cult is spreading. Was able to put together the pieces far too quickly. What if she's involved in this, somehow?"

Jenny shook her head. "She was kidnapped."

"Maybe it was a trap," said Alan. "To lure you to their headquarters. Catch you, and..." Alan paused. Hesitating. "Jenny. Please. Don't go to the cult. I can't… let you…"

"A trap for _me_?" Jenny couldn't believe that. Seo had been jealous, yes, but even that was just petty. Jenny had never gotten nefarious from her, not at all. "To what end? What could she possibly want from me that she didn't have, before?"

"I don't know!" Alan snapped. "Something you have? Something you know? Your physiology is unique. People have been after it, before. What if she's like the others — out to get… your…" His eyes lit up. "…your extra lives! A lot of people want to live forever, you know."

"She has extra lives of her own," said Jenny. "We're sisters. She may be part-human, but the basic physiology is the same."

"And how do you know?" Alan challenged. "Part-human, you said! Maybe she doesn't get extra lives. What if she's… I don't know… dying? Can't regenerate? She might want to take your extra lives away so she'll be able to survive."

Jenny hesitated.

Thinking back to the way Seo had reacted to the thought of her mum's death…

"Jenny, believe me," Alan pleaded. "I have contacts who know her. She's clever. Will get out of any trap. Escape any prison. Please, remember that! And don't go to that cult!"

Jenny turned away from him.

Her head spinning, as she thought through everything. Communicator in her hands.

"I can't tell you more," Alan said. "I wish I could. But you have to trust me. Just remember, please, Jenny — I can't stand the thought of you getting hurt."

Jenny was quiet for a long time.

Looking down at Alan's communicator in her hand.

"You're right," Jenny said, at last, pulling her other hand away from him. "Seo's bad news. We'd better just abandon the rescue. Go back to Totania. Pick up where the two of us left off."

Alan looked at her, strangely. "I'm sorry?"

"I'm serious," said Jenny. "I think it's a good idea." She got up from her seat, accidentally dropping the communicator onto the floor. She jumped, at the noise, looking down. "Oh, clumsy me! Now where is…?"

One of her boots thudded down on it, the whole thing falling apart.

For a few moments, there was silence in the ship.

Then Jenny looked up at Alan. A small smile on her face.

"It was transmitting, wasn't it?" Jenny guessed. "That's why you couldn't tell me the truth. Because they heard every word we said."

Alan blinked.

Then gave a shaky smile. "Yes!" he said. "Yes, you're… very clever." He looked around himself, uneasily. "And that's certainly the only transmitter around. No other transmitters or… video link pickups, sending out messages to… other interested parties."

Jenny caught the unease.

Knew what it meant.

Anything they said or did here was transmitted straight to Alan's paymasters.

Ah. Now this was starting to make sense! If Alan's ship was bugged… no wonder he'd been so frightened to leave in this shuttle. No wonder he'd been working so hard to make Jenny doubt her actions.

Jenny examined Alan, carefully.

Were they threatening him with something, if he didn't cooperate? Someone he knew and loved? His family, or his friends, or…?

Jenny froze.

As it suddenly came clear to her.

Exactly who was being threatened. And why he didn't want _her_ , specifically, to go to the cult.

"You… still care that much about me?" said Jenny, in a low voice. She could feel herself shaking. "You always said you'd do anything to protect me."

Even this.

"I will," said Alan.

"My physiology is unique, you said." Jenny shook her head. "Except it isn't. You know it isn't. I have a sister… and her physiology would do in a pinch."

Alan froze.

"You worked it out when you were researching the cult," Jenny guessed. "Looked up who Seo was. What relationship she had to me. And you realized… anyone wanting me would just as easily settle for _her_."

Alan seemed highly uneasy.

"Is that why you joined the Cult of Erodz?" said Jenny. "To hunt her down and hand her over before I showed up?" She advanced on Alan, her eyes blazing. "I bet you were disappointed when you discovered I knew her. Even more disappointed than your paymasters will be when they work out she's half-human."

"Jenny," Alan said. Real desperation in his voice. "I… I can't… for your own sake, please…"

Jenny turned away from him.

Her eyes scanning the room for the other transmission sources that Alan had hinted were hidden around him.

"This whole setup with Alan… it's a trap for _me_ , isn't it?" Jenny demanded of her unknown assailants, who were listening in via camera. "You wanted a Gallifreyan. You didn't dare touch Dad — that'd be suicide. So you decided on me."

Oh, and it made sense!

That's why they knew everything she was going to do! Why they seemed to be targeting things that were special and unique to her — with Seo thrown randomly into the middle of it all.

The devil of the cult was never Seo.

It was her.

Jenny.

"What did Alan tell you?" Jenny told the hidden cameras. "That my sister would make a better specimen than me? That she'd do in a pinch? Or…" Her mind racing. "Or did he trick you into thinking she _was_ me? That 'Seo' was some sort of code-name I use?" She gave a grim laugh. "Bet you were disappointed when she turned up instead. A half-human instead of a full Gallifreyan! Very disappointing." A smile crept up her face. "But you won't be disappointed for long."

Alan leapt up from his chair. "Jenny, don't you dare…!"

She ignored him, stepping forwards. "You want me?" Jenny shouted. Threw open her arms. "Here I am, walking right into your trap. So… let's see if you can catch me!"

Alan threw himself at her, trying to tackle her to the ground, but she dodged him expertly. Then zipped out of the room, locking the door behind her.

Alan crashed into it, shouting at her, frantically, not to go to the cult. Not to do what she was doing.

Jenny turned away.

"I won't hide who and what I am," she said, as she headed off to the bridge. "Especially not when doing so will harm someone else."

The lock on the bridge to Alan's shuttle was engaged. But Jenny cracked it, easily. The door slid open.

"If you ever really cared about me, Alan," said Jenny, "you'd know that."

And closed the door behind her.


	5. Chapter 5

_"For the last time," Aychron gritted through his teeth, "I don't know any Time Ladies. Gallifrey was destroyed! I assumed its people were all dead."_

_The Chartonan Inquisitor gurgled in disapproval._

_And increased the dial on the machine._

_Aychron writhed in utter agony. Trying but failing to remain stoic under the onslaught._

_"There are rumors that two still exist," said the Chartonan. "A Time Lord. And… one other. A Gallifreyan female."_

_"I don't know anything about that," Aychron hissed._

_The Chartonan shook its head, tentacled mouth swaying with the movement. "No use resisting, Wsartor. You will tell us where she is."_

_"I can't tell you something I don't know!" Aychron shouted at them. "I've nothing to do with Gallifrey. I am a Wsartor!"_

_"Then why are you resisting the mind probe?" the Chartonan demanded._

_It turned up the knob._

_And Aychron let out a piercing scream._

_The door to the interrogation room burst open, and Jenny emerged, enormous gun in hand, her eyes leveled at the aliens._

_"Who…?" the Chartonan began. Then, a little huffily, "How did you get in here?!"_

_Jenny altered the aim of the gun._

_And blew out the generator controlling the mind-probe._

_Aychron slumped in his bonds, breathing heavily. His white hair matted with sweat, his eyes rolling._

_"Didn't you know?" said Jenny. "I'm extremely clever."_

_The screens nearby beeped, flashing up a red warning. They'd finally read her physiology. Had worked out what she was._

_She turned the gun on the Inquisitor._

_"Get Aychron out of there," she growled. "Now."_

_The Chartonan Inquisitor gurgled in delight, as he unstrapped Aychron. "You'll never escape us, Gallifreyan," he warned. "We knew you'd come to rescue your friend. We have prepared for this."_

_Jenny's ponytail swished behind her, with the shake of her head. "I think you missed the 'I'm extremely clever' bit, from earlier," she said. "I know your technology. I know your systems. I know how to get around them, and make sure you can't lay a finger on me. And I know you've locked Aychron into that mind probe using a isomorphic lock." She charged up the gun. "So get him out of there. Or I'll shoot you, cut off your hand, and use_ that _to undo the lock, instead."_

_The Inquisitor hesitated._

_Then gave in. Let Aychron go._

_"Carry him," Jenny demanded. "We're heading out the front door."_

_"You'll never get away with this," said the Inquisitor. "Whatever you've done, we'll undo it. We'll never let you leave — not with that unique physiology of yours intact."_

_"Then it's a good thing I've got a hostage," Jenny snapped. Shoved her gun into the Inquisitor's back. "Now move."_

* * *

_Jenny sat beside Aychron, as he recovered, in their ship. Handed him a bowl of soup._

_He reached for it, then winced._

_Jenny swore, as she noticed the deep gash in his side. The one he hadn't told her existed. She ran off, to get some medical supplies._

_When she re-emerged, the pain on her face was visible to all._

_She raced over, and bandaged him up. More carefully, this time. Taking care to get even the injuries Aychron was too proud to admit hurt._

_"I told you," said Aychron, with a tired smile. "I didn't let them take me without a fight." He swallowed back the pain, as she disinfected one of the wounds on his back. "And what a fight it was!"_

_"You can stop pretending," said Jenny, quietly, looking at his back. "These are electric burns. They weren't made in a fight. They were made… afterwards."_

_Aychron covered up the next flinch of pain with a gruff laugh._

_"Clever," he said. "I always said you were. I just… never knew why."_

_Jenny kept her eyes focused on her work._

_Her jaw kept trembling. Half with utter rage, half with desperate terror and worry._

_"Don't blame yourself, child!" Aychron snapped. "It's not your fault. Not this time. You can't help how you were born. Leave the self-blame for when you deserve it."_

_Jenny's voice wavered. "They… tortured you. Because you knew me."_

_"Mere scratches to a Wsartor," Aychron countered. "I barely felt them."_

_But he was lying, and Jenny knew it._

_She'd heard him scream._

_He was lying to make her feel like it wasn't so bad. Make her feel less guilty. And the lie only made it… so much worse._

_"And to think!" Aychron laughed. "This whole time. A Wsartor teaching… a Time Lady!" He glanced back at her. "Has this all been some elaborate ruse? Is your race still out there, somewhere, hidden away — sending you out to spy on the universe while we think you're all dead? Are you how your race plans to keep tabs on the Wsartor?"_

_"I'm… not… not a Time…" Jenny hesitated. Then dropped her head. "I don't know what I am."_

_Aychron looked her over. Frowning, as he thought the matter through. And came to his conclusion._

_"You were born after the planet had been destroyed," Aychron guessed. "The only child of the only Time Lord survivors."_

_Jenny didn't answer._

_"What happened to your mother and father?" Aychron asked. "Or… do you not know?"_

_"Dad left," Jenny muttered. "I… don't have a mum."_

_Aychron's forehead creased, further, as he tried to puzzle this out._

_"I'm from Messaline," Jenny explained. "Born a soldier, a child of their progenitor machine. They only needed—"_

_"—one set of DNA," Aychron concluded. His face relaxing. "I see."_

_Neither one said anything, for a long while after that._

_Jenny just staring down, into her lap._

_Not sure what to say._

_Aychron turned kind eyes on her. "I'm sorry to say… I don't know much about Time Lord culture," he admitted. "My people arose after the fall of Gallifrey. As a direct result of it, in fact." He picked up his shirt, off the bed. Shrugged it back on, trying not to wince in pain as he irritated his injuries. "The Wsartor bonded together in the wake of the Time War. My people pledged themselves to travel the stars, restoring order and peace to the universe, and to ebb the chaos caused by the Gallifreyan War."_

_Jenny looked away._

_Not saying a word._

_"I've heard your ancestors were a good people," Aychron assured her. "A benevolent and noble race." He put a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at him. "Don't be ashamed of what you are."_

_"I don't even_ know _what I am!" Jenny blurted out._

_Aychron seemed puzzled by this._

_"Dad was a Time Lord," said Jenny. "That's true. Donna said so. But… I only knew him for a day. And he hated me. He hated that I was a soldier. He hated that I was his child. I think my very existence disgusted him. He told me I wasn't like him — wasn't a Time Lord. Not even a person. Just… an echo."_

_Aychron's eyes went sad. "You reminded him of what he lost."_

_"But then he changed, and by the end, I thought… he liked me!" Jenny insisted. Recalling the events so vividly, every detail etched into her brain. "He seemed to care. And then… he left." She looked off into the distance. "At first I assumed… he just thought I was dead. All I needed to do was prove to him I was alive. So I set off to find him again. Decided to save a few worlds, fight off a few evil monsters…"_

_She drifted off._

_"And you told me," Aychron said, "how that turned out."_

_They'd seen the evidence of Jenny's failures, on some of their voyages together. The times she'd tried to make things better, and had only made them worse._

_"But I didn't tell you what I learned… just before I met you," Jenny whispered. "I found a planet that knew about Time Lords. Knew about Dad." She squeezed her eyes shut, taking deep breaths. "They explained it. All Time Lords have a telepathic link inside their heads, telling them if there are any others of their kind around."_

_Aychron frowned. "Ah. Which means… your dad's would have picked you up."_

_"Which means he_ knew _!" Jenny cried. "He's always known I'm still alive. But he never cared. He never wanted to see me, again. I'm not important to him. I'm just… an echo."_

_She felt Aychron's hand on her back._

_And turned, throwing her arms around him in a desperate hug._

_"That thought just keeps gnawing at my head," Jenny said, into his shoulder. "Every time I try to forget it, every time I think about anything else, every second I'm awake… it's always in the back of my mind. That thought. That… Dad knows I'm alive… and I'm nothing to him."_

_"That's why you never told me about your origins," Aychron understood._

_"I hate what I am," Jenny muttered. "An echo of a dead race. The only Time Lord around says I'm not a Time Lord, but everyone else… tries to hurt me or hunt me down. Because they say I am." She closed her eyes, giving a long sigh. "I wish I'd been born one of your people. The… Wsartor."_

_Aychron chuckled. "The Wsartor aren't born, Jenny," he said. "It's not my race. It's what I became, after my training. It's my pledge. My duty."_

_Jenny frowned._

_Pulled out of the hug. "I don't understand."_

_"It'd be like assuming every human is… a samurai," Aychron attempted to explain. "My race is Tryoldan. That's how I was born. But being a Wsartor is… so much more than that. It's…" He struggled to find a way to put it. "…a sum of knowledge. A code. A shared history, and a shared suffering."_

_Jenny jumped to her feet, when she heard the words._

_Wide eyes staring at Aychron._

_"Is something the matter?" Aychron asked._

_"He… said that," Jenny breathed. "Dad. When he told me I was an echo. He used… those exact words. About Time Lords."_

_Aychron took this in._

_Then gave a laugh, his eyes crinkling in sudden comprehension._

_"Jenny, my dear child," he said. "I think… you've been sulking over a very big misunderstanding."_

_"Misunder—?!"_

_"Your dad didn't mean you weren't a member of his species," said Aychron. "You_ aren't _a Time Lady, Jenny. At least…_ not yet _." He reached for her hand, and she helped him off the sofa where he'd been lying. "I think we better do something about that."_

_Jenny stared. "Do… something…?"_

_"It's time to take this ship out to the farthest reaches," Aychron decided. "And find out about your origins. Your code. Your people's history and your people's suffering." He used her as a support, as he made his way to the bridge of the ship. "With Gallifrey gone, you may never match your dad's definition of 'Time Lady'. But… I promise… the next time you see him — you'll be able to hold your head up high. Knowing… you're just as good as the real thing."_


	6. Chapter 6

The second time Seo came to, it was due to the splash of ice-cold water on her face.

She shrieked, a little, in annoyance.

"Either you've missed the point of giving me a drink," Seo said, blinking her eyes open, "or you've missed the point of giving me a bath." Tried to move her arms to wipe the water away from her eyes, but… her hands wouldn't move.

Seo managed to open her eyes through water droplets.

And discovered she was restrained to a wall, in a bleak-looking cell, staring straight at Erodz, himself, now holding a knife.

Its blade glinted in the overhead lights, menacingly.

As he brought it closer to her.

"Brilliant," Seo sighed.

Why was she always getting herself into situations like this? She didn't _enjoy_ getting tortured by maniacs — she didn't wander through time and space seeking it out! Maybe this was some sort of multiversal karmic justice, because she'd destroyed an entire universe when she was a baby.

She hoped so.

Then, at least, all this might make some sort of cosmic sense.

"And you must be Erodz, murderous leader of the Cult of Erodz?" said Seo. She grinned. "Good to meet you. I'm Seo!" She tried to soften the grin, to be as self-confident and friendly as possible. "And you don't have to torture me. In fact, I'm quite nice if you get to know me. And talkative. I'll tell you anything without any torture needed!"

She just hoped he'd ask her something she knew.

Erodz, however, didn't seem to notice she'd spoken. He just stepped closer, self absorbed with the knife and the prospect of using it on her.

"Your power won't work on me," Erodz snarled, twirling the knife between his fingertips. "I've taken precautions. While in here, your words cancel out to nothing in my ears."

Seo grimaced.

No talking herself out of this situation, then.

"Whatever you want, I'll give it to you!" Seo shouted, loud as she could. Trying to think through why Erodz might have captured her in the first place. First, he'd wanted something inside her brain, and now… he'd silenced her? What was he after?

"Is it that you've heard about me from the Powers that Be?" Seo shouted. "You want to take me down because I kill gods? Or are you going to wipe my brain and use me as a genocide machine?"

Erodz's smile grew even wider. "Talk all you like," he said. "I can't hear a word you say."

"Why?!" Seo cried. Struggling, a little more. "What's the matter with my voice?!"

She froze, as he lunged out, his knife surging towards her throat.

He stopped.

The tip of the knife right against her larynx.

"I know what you did," Erodz sneered. "What you can do. I've worked it out."

Seo felt her head spinning. Didn't understand what was going on, or what he meant, but… for some reason… he seemed very intent on her throat.

Her voice.

"All that power — and you're going to give it to me," said Erodz. His voice a growl. A trickle of blood dripped from the tip of his knife, running across the blade. "I'll find out where it is and cut it out of you. Make sure it's mine, and mine alone. The power to rule the universe!"

"With my voice?!" Seo cried. Still not daring to move a muscle, her voice coming far too rapidly and desperately. "Listen, I—"

The words made Erodz suddenly clutch his ears and jump back.

"No!" he screamed, across the room in seconds. "I can hear you! I can…!" He turned to the door of the cell. "Theresa. Theresa! You idiot!" Threw it open, then stormed out. "You'd better have…"

The door was bolted firmly behind him.

Seo frowned.

A little puzzled, trying to make sense of this.

"My power… is in… my voice," Seo repeated. Shook her head, unable to take this in. "Or maybe you're just loopy. That's a much better explanation!"

Right.

Time to work out how to escape.

* * *

The woman Theresa was hauled forwards and dropped before Erodz, thrown to the floor at his feet.

"I'm sorry, my Lord," Theresa pleaded. "I am your humble servant. I know no other master but yourself. May it be your divine will that I—"

"You are replaceable, Theresa," Erodz reminded her. His beady eyes boring down on her in majestic justice. "I have the ultimate source of power nearly in my grasp. You've failed me twice. I don't want to hear you've failed me again."

"I… I understand, my Lord," said Theresa, resuming her grovel at his feet. Then… hesitated. "But she isn't what we expected. Your holy litanies spoke of—"

"A being of utter power, the source of evil in our world," Erodz cut in. "The ultimate evil, capable of any deception or witchcraft. Is it possible for you underlings to properly perceive a being of such great evil as it appears in the mortal realm?"

Theresa hesitated. Then blurted out, "I think we have the wrong person, Lord."

Erodz gave a small laugh. "Oh, no. Certainly not."

"But she doesn't match the descriptions!" Theresa insisted. "She doesn't match the stories or even the facts we know about her! She might not even have this… 'secret power'… that you want!"

"She does."

"What if… what if we were betrayed?" Theresa tried. "What if someone out there wanted us to _believe_ this was the anti-god, and fed us a replacement? I wouldn't want you to take your divine revenge on the wrong person, oh Lord Erodz."

Erodz held out his hand. "Put your mind at ease, Theresa," he said. "She is the right person — just in a different form. We have not been betrayed."

"Speak for yourself," Theresa muttered, beneath her breath.

"I, alone, know the truth," Erodz proclaimed, not hearing Theresa. "I, alone, can see her power. That which is invisible to all others. She _is_ the devil incarnate, the source of evil in the universe, the darkness that we must destroy. She _is_ —"

"You can see… her… power?" Theresa cut in. Then, quickly resuming her groveling, added, "My Lord, I did not know her evilness was visible to the naked eye."

"Not to yours," said Erodz. "Only to mine. The green ripples of power that pour from her — they are the only credentials Seo needs to prove herself. It is her."

Theresa hesitated.

"Go now," Erodz demanded. "Fix your security systems. But if it fails again…"

"I understand," said Theresa, hurriedly, getting to her feet. She bowed to Erodz, continuously, as she left the room. "Thank you, Lord. Your mercy and forgiveness surpasses all others."

Then she left.

Slipping down the hallways.

"Nutter," she muttered, when she was out of hearing range.

* * *

The cell door clanged open, and a woman in black robes was shoved inside. Then the cell door clanged shut, and the lock turned. The guards standing beside the door, looking in at the new arrival with accusing and cautious eyes.

"Hello!" said Seo, cheerily. "I remember you. Theresa! The black-robed person standing by the machine, when I first woke up! Are you a prisoner, now, too?"

Theresa looked up at her.

And Seo was struck by something unfathomably cold in her eyes.

"No," said the woman, getting to her feet, and advancing towards Seo. "I'm here to fix your security systems."

She opened up a panel nearby, and began fiddling around inside it.

Seo peered at Theresa — much as she could, at this angle. Couldn't see what Theresa was doing, not with her neck secured to the wall in such a way to make that impossible without self-strangulation.

Then, in a much lower, harder voice, Theresa muttered to Seo, "What do you think you're doing, here?"

Seo was a little taken aback.

"What do I think I'm doing here?" Seo cried. "I was kidnapped! I didn't have a choice!" She shot Theresa a piercing glare. "Better question. Why is everyone else so afraid to hear me speak? And why aren't _you_?"

Theresa glanced over to Seo, catching her eyes for just a moment. "Oh, I'm terrified every time you open your mouth." She turned back to her work, with a sigh. "Remember that."

Seo frowned.

"But… why?" Seo asked. "Please, just… listen, Theresa. Erodz is a madman! I'm not your enemy — I can help! Promise! Just—"

"I know exactly who you are," Theresa retorted. "That's why I know you _can't_ help me. You're the wrong one."

Wrong… one?

Now that was interesting.

"Lord Erodz claims he can see green glowing energy around you," Theresa said. "He says that's how he knows that you're the one he's looking for." Theresa scowled. "Which is bollocks, of course. The man's barking. But he'll shoot me if I try to challenge his 'divine sight'."

Seo's eyes went wide. "Glowing… green…?"

"He's going to hurt you until he can steal everything from you and leave you for dead," Theresa hissed. "Leaving me with the wrong fly in my web. And no chance to try again." Slamming closed wiring panel beside Seo. "So thank you, Seo. Thank you for ruining everything."

Seo regarded Theresa, thoughtfully. Her mind racing through all the implications of this statement.

"You're not working for Erodz — you're taking advantage of his insanity so you can hunt down someone you're looking for," Seo realized. "Someone who isn't me." A small grin lit up her face. "No wonder you don't want Erodz to hear his prisoner speak! You didn't want me — or whoever you intended to catch — to tell Erodz that you're not working on his side!"

Theresa didn't answer.

"You wanted Jenny, didn't you?" Seo guessed. "She's your real aim." With a smirk, "What did Jenny do to you, that makes you so determined to kill her? She defeat you and ruin all your evil plans?"

Theresa gritted her teeth.

But didn't answer.

"Or is this not personal at all?" Seo asked, enjoying the little puzzle she was working out in her head. "After all, Jenny's the closest thing to a Time Lord in this universe — aside from Father, but going after him would be suicide. The physiology is unique, though. Lots of people might be interested in it."

Theresa said nothing.

"Either way, you knew you could infiltrate the cult," Seo continued, "and manipulate Erodz so that he'd stop at nothing to get his hands on Jenny. He'd catch her for you. Then… with you in charge of security around here… you could sneak into the cell and make off with Jenny the moment Erodz's back was turned." She chuckled. "Brilliant! No wonder you hate me. I ruined all your plans."

Theresa grabbed one of Seo's restrained arms, staring straight into her eyes. Squeezed her arm, tight. "You have no idea," Theresa hissed, "just how much you've messed up my plans. And how much you're going to regret that, later." She squeezed again. "This won't end well for you. Trust me."

"Then help me escape!" Seo pleaded. Her voice barely above a whisper. "You know Erodz is a nutter. You know he shouldn't be in charge of any kind of religion. Whatever you want with Jenny… we can discuss that later! But help me, now!"

Theresa stepped back, with a frustrated grunt. "You're a useless idiot, Seo," she said, through her teeth. Turned around, and began walking out the door. "And apparently, so is your sister."

She paused, by the door. Then, taking a little gadget out of her pocket, flipped a switch that made the air light up in different colors around Seo, just for a second.

Then the illusion faded away.

"Now no one can hear you, anymore," Theresa announced, putting away the gadget, and turning to go. "Prepare yourself. When Lord Erodz comes for you, it won't be pleasant."

Then she knocked on the door. The guards opened it.

And she left the cell.

Seo remained in her bonds, puzzling the meeting through in her mind.

It almost made sense.

Except…

"I'm a useless idiot… and so is my sister," Seo repeated. Reflecting on this, carefully. "What have you done, now, Jenny?"


	7. Chapter 7

_Jenny pressed her nose against the glass. Staring._

_"This… is it?" Jenny breathed._

_"The constellation of Kasterborous," Aychron agreed, from just beside her. His hands behind his back, his gaze fixed out at the stars, a somber expression on his face. "Coordinates 10-0-11-0-0 by 0-2 from Galactic Center. According to all the records we've found, this…" Waving his hand out the window, "is where it used to be."_

_Jenny looked out at the system in front of her._

_The two suns, shining in the center. The four other planets nearby — burnt-out, dead worlds. Some in pieces._

_And in the place where that fifth should have been…_

_Nothing._

_"I thought… there'd be debris," said Jenny. "Bits of…_ something _left. But it's just blackness. Emptiness."_

_The thought of it bore through her. Made her shudder._

_"As if the planet were completely vaporized," Aychron muttered. Pondering the matter over. "Not even a trace to show the legacy it held in its soil."_

_"What could do that to a planet?!" Jenny cried. Spun on Aychron. "Was it something these… what were they called?"_

_"Daleks."_

_"…these 'Daleks' did?" Jenny said. "Something someone else did? Was it a super-weapon? An ancient artifact? Or did they directly manipulate the universe — folding around time and space until the planet was snuffed out?"_

_She felt her breathing coming a little more rapidly._

_That empty blackness of space still embedded deep within her mind._

_Aychron turned to her. "Do not let your reactions be governed by fear," he warned her. Gestured at the star system. "This is tragic, yes. But remember it for the people who died, not the weapon used to destroy them."_

_"But what if it's still out there?" Jenny shouted. "What if these… 'Daleks'… are planning to use it, again, somewhere else?!" She spun back to the window. "Whole planets turned to nothing."_

_Emptiness._

_Space._

_Nothing left to show anything had been there at all._

_"We have to find out what happened," Jenny decided. Fists clenching, eyes blazing. "Work out what ended the Time War. We'll find the culprit responsible and wipe them out, forever, in revenge for—"_

_"A planet you have never seen?" Aychron reminded her, in that calm, steady voice of his. "A people you have never met? A culture you know nothing about?"_

_Jenny bit her lower lip._

_But didn't answer._

_"You have no knowledge to fill the nothingness you see outside," Aychron said. "No idea what should be there, or why it isn't. You swear vendettas against nameless faces you've never seen, to defend the honor of other nameless faces you've never seen." He stepped towards her, his dark eyes boring into her own. "You are fighting over shadows, Jenny."_

_"I… I can't…"_

_"The Govolon Battle Cruiser was destroyed — not by an enemy, but by an accidental explosion of its own engines," Aychron reminded her. "The destruction of the Second Moon of Urlo was due to a freak time experiment, not the Cruvons. Even the USS Maine, on Earth, was sunk due to mislaid gunpowder. All these tragedies provoked a war with an enemy that had not caused the destruction in the first place. Violence and bloodshed that might have been prevented."_

_"But… it wasn't an accident, this time," Jenny whispered. Pressed her hand against the window. "It can't be. There's… nothing left of the planet. Nothing at all."_

_Aychron put his hand on her shoulder._

_"We will learn what happened, here," Aychron told her. "But no vendettas. No violence. No baseless hatred — not until we can visualize the faces and the cultures that once existed." He squeezed her shoulder. "We are heroes, Jenny. We do not lash out because of 'nothing'. We fight for_ people _. Remember that."_

* * *

Jenny carefully locked the shuttle, behind her, as she emerged onto Tryxoi 7.

Frowned.

"Not what I expected," Jenny admitted. "And definitely not what I saw when I arrived here, 500 years from now."

The whole space port was decked out in the colors and insignia of the cult.

Black robed figures were everywhere around them. Many with their hoods down, just casually going about their day and their business.

Jenny turned, as she heard Alan's voice through the door of the ship. His pounding frantic against it, begging Jenny not to go out.

Begging her to come back.

"Sorry," said Jenny, with a grin. "But I love running into traps. It's a special hobby of mine." She spun back around, facing the outside world. "Now. If I were a cult headquarters… where would I be?"

* * *

It took her a little while to work out where it was.

And a lot of her wandering through the city, lost, trying to figure out how things had gotten so out-of-hand, here.

These people seemed perfectly normal.

Not brainwashed at all. Just going about their business, store owners at their stores, spaceship mechanics at their tools, the whole society moving along as if there were nothing at all strange about worshipping a maniac who'd slaughtered millions of innocent people without provocation.

Jenny asked someone about that.

"Our Lord Erodz?" The older woman laughed. "Well, there's nothing strange about worshipping the Lord Erodz. Not these days."

"I… see," said Jenny, who didn't.

"Don't get me wrong — back when he was Choice Leader, we all thought he was a nasty piece of work," the woman explained. "When he stepped down, a lot of people wanted him put on trial for mass murder, and see him publically executed."

That was what Jenny had expected.

"But he's changed so much, since then," said the woman, with a wide smile. "All the work he's been doing for charity. And the work he does to help children." She picked up a newspaper, whose front page featured a picture of Erodz. "There he is. Helping build a new public school. And handing out sandwiches to the homeless. And to think — we once believed he was a monster!"

This didn't make a lot of sense to Jenny.

"So… your Choice Leader," Jenny confirmed, "changed, overnight, from a power-hungry, evil dictator to a benevolent cult-icon who loves kids?"

"Oh, it's not a cult, honey," the woman assured her. "It's our religion. Ever… since…" The woman faltered.

A look of intense worry clouding her face.

"What?" said Jenny. "What happened?"

"The… darkness," said the woman. Her hands were trembling, her voice far away. "In our minds. Can't you feel it? It's like… when Erodz resigned, when he wasn't there to oppress and mistreat us… there was just..." She hesitated.

"Just?" Jenny prompted.

"Nothing," said the woman. "Emptiness."

Nothing.

Like the remains of a planet Jenny didn't know and had never seen.

There was little quite as terrifying as gazing into the nothing that had destroyed a world, and not being able to match a face to it. Not being able to even identify what precisely had happened, in the first place.

"None of us knew what had caused it," said the woman. "Why it was there. Or what it might do to us, in the future. But…"

"…but Erodz knew," Jenny guessed.

"Our Lord Erodz gave us a face to fill the emptiness," the woman said. "He proved to us the threat that awaited. He protects us from it." Her voice dropped. "And we need his protection. We need someone like Erodz — kindhearted and good, but who can also be ruthless when he needs to. That's the only way to defeat… _it_."

And everyone else Jenny spoke to… was the same.

They had other words for it. Other descriptions.

But they were all consumed by that fear. That darkness without form. That emptiness.

"Only Lord Erodz can fight it," everyone agreed. "He's the only one who knows what it is."

Jenny felt the frustration build up, inside of her.

"But he doesn't!" Jenny insisted. "And that isn't how to defeat it! You've been so terrified of Erodz for so long, the moment you worked out he was pretty nice… your minds needed some other thing to fear!" Her eyes blazed. "All Erodz has done is provide you with a scapegoat."

The people laughed at Jenny.

And dismissed her as a crackpot. She couldn't feel it — she didn't know.

Outsiders never understood.

"I've felt that emptiness, too," Jenny tried to explain to them. Thinking back, across the hundred years she'd been alive. "When I first saw it, I didn't understand it. An empty spot where a planet should have been. I was terrified." She shuddered. "It haunted me. In my worst nightmares. I'd lie awake at night thinking of that blackness and being terrified of who could have caused it. I was scared enough that… I just wanted to hunt down whoever did it and kill them so that feeling could go away. So I didn't have to be afraid!"

The people seemed mildly interested, now.

"But I'm glad I didn't," Jenny said. "Because then I found out _who_ had caused the nothingness. And…" She looked out into the distance. "…and if I'd killed him just because I was afraid of something I didn't know or understand… I'd never have forgiven myself."

"Which is why we follow Lord Erodz!" shouted a man, nearby. "Because he makes us understand! He makes us know!"

Everyone murmured in acknowledgement of this obvious truth.

"No!" shouted Jenny. Stomping her foot. "That's not my point at all! When I learned about the emptiness, I was looking for an enemy! I wanted someone I could blame for all my own problems, every issue I had with my not being up to Dad's standards or my ancestral home world being gone! I wanted an easy solution — something I could kill to make me feel better. Validate me in Dad's eyes! But… that wasn't what I found!" Jenny shook her head. "He wasn't an enemy. Definitely not _my_ enemy. Just someone forced into a horrible situation."

"Like Lord Erodz!" a young woman confirmed. "Back when he was dictator. We thought he was evil, but he was actually just someone forced into a bad situation."

"What? No, not like Erodz!" said Jenny. "Not at all! It's more like… your anti-god. Your devil."

The people all shuddered.

Started to turn away, disperse.

"Don't you think it's a bit convenient that this 'great emptiness' appeared right after Erodz stepped down?" Jenny shouted after them. "And that he seems to have gained the most from its emergence in the first place?!"

But no one was interested, anymore.

Everyone just went back to their normal lives.

Jenny shook her head. Feeling lost and confused and… trying to make sense of it all. They seemed so calm and rational about the whole thing. Just normal people, going about their normal lives, without a second thought.

Except that… Jenny could see, deep in their eyes… that they all felt horribly, sickeningly scared.

Of something they had no name for.

"This is what you _should be_ scared of," Jenny told the local mailman, snatching the newspaper from him. She pointed at one of the minor headlines, at the back. "Six funerals, yesterday, all for people Erodz sentenced to death without a trial. He's still doing it! Still out there killing and murdering for no good reason!"

The mailman considered the article.

Frowning.

"Ah, but you didn't read this part," the mailman said, pointing to a line. "See? '…fingerprinting and forensic evidence showed that they were guilty of the destruction of Westside School, last week.'" He shot Jenny a pointed look. "That bombing killed 17 kids, and wounded countless others. And all started by those… Seo-worshipping maniacs who are trying to undermine our way of life."

Jenny felt exasperated. "But Erodz always used to claim he had concrete evidence!" she insisted. "And he never did. Don't you see?" She shook the paper at him. "Seo is a scapegoat! Erodz has created a benevolent public persona, so he can win your trust and blame everything he's doing on someone else!"

The mailman just quietly shook his head.

Amused that Jenny had so obviously missed what — he believed — was the point.

And got on with his job.

"Can you at least tell me where Erodz is?!" Jenny cried out, after him.

"No idea!" the mailman called after her. "Good day to you!"

Turned out, nobody knew. They believed in Erodz in an abstract way, thought he could help them, but didn't actually know where he physically was.

So Jenny had to work it out for herself. Had to hunt down leads, follow clues. Ask anyone she could find that she thought might actually be helpful.

It took her half the day before she found the compound.

But she did find it, in the end.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No update tomorrow, as I'll be traveling. Enjoy!

_Jenny had been on her mission, with Aychron — to learn about her culture and her heritage and the Time Lords in general — for two years…_

_Before she found out the truth._

_"What is it?" said the old wise-woman of Eftorim. "You look like you've seen a ghost, my child. This is common knowledge for those who knew the Time Lords."_

_"You have to be wrong," was all Jenny could get out._

_"No, it_ was _the Doctor," the wise-woman confirmed. "It's why he is the only survivor." The wise-woman looked over some forms on her desk, signing them with a digital encryption lock-code. "At first, everyone assumed it was the Daleks. They were poised above the planet, after all, ready to strike. But before they could… the Doctor used the Moment." She shuffled aside the forms. "They say the Moment destroyed both the Daleks and Gallifrey in a single instant. The most powerful weapon ever devised."_

_Jenny remembered her dad._

_Remembered everything he'd said to her._

_Every ounce of disgust and hatred on his face when he spoke of soldiers and fighting._

_And she remembered that empty space where her ancestral home-world — the one she'd never known, and would never know — used to be._

_Jenny screamed._

_And didn't stop for a long, long time._

* * *

Theresa swore, very loudly.

"I know," said Alan's image, on the monitor. "I tried to convince her not to go to Tryxoi 7. I begged. Pleaded. Did everything I could. But she wouldn't listen."

"She's supposed to be on Totania," said Theresa. "You know that!"

"She worked out I was up to a different agenda, and locked me in here!" Alan insisted "Then she left. I don't know where she is, now."

"So… what did you tell her?" said Theresa. "What does she know?"

Alan hesitated. "Can't… you tell?"

"Tell? Of course I can't 'tell'!" snapped Theresa. "What? You think there's some telepathic neural network, connecting us all together instantaneously? It doesn't work like that. Especially not now. Lately, I can sense when there's another one of us around, nearby… but that's about it."

Alan frowned.

Tried to look like he understood, as he nodded.

But clearly didn't.

"What did you tell her, Alan?" Theresa said. "Tell me!"

"I made her think my whole ship was bugged with links to you," said Alan. "So she assumed I _couldn't_ tell her anything. Not safely."

Theresa smiled. "Very clever. I knew there was a reason I liked you."

"But she knows about the trap, and she knows you have the wrong person," said Alan. "She's determined to get Seo out of there. She thinks… the trap was set up for _her_."

Theresa sighed. "Seo thinks the same thing. I just spoke to her." She shook her head. "I've been trying to get Seo out of here. So I could reset the trap. But Erodz is guarding her like a hawk."

Alan looked puzzled. "Erodz? But… how can Erodz _not_ know he's got the wrong person? He actually met…!"

"Because he's a nutter," Theresa cut in. "A dangerous madman. Taking advantage of a situation spiraling out of our control, so he can regain his power." She shook her head. "We have to find out what's causing this… 'nothingness', Alan. Find out how it's spreading, and how to stop it."

"Which is why we set up the trap in the first place," Alan pointed out. "You remember? The trap. The reason we're in this mess. The thing that accidentally snagged the wrong person, caused Jenny to leave Totania and come here in the first place, and made—"

"All right, all right!" Theresa interrupted. "Point taken. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not infallible. I'm just doing the best I can." She checked her watch. "When did you and her touch down on Tryxoi 7?"

"Two hours ago," Alan reported. "She encrypted the whole communications channel, and smashed up my personal comms unit. It took me this long to find something that'd get in touch with you."

Theresa swore, again. "Two hours. She could be here any minute."

"Yes."

"Which means I don't have enough time to get Seo out," said Theresa, "before she shows up here and tracks me down. Probably to shoot first and ask questions later." She buried her face in her hands. "How do I get myself into these messes?"

"By manipulating egomaniacal mass murderers into doing your dirty work?" Alan offered.

Theresa threw up her hood over her head. "Thanks, Alan," she said. "I needed that. I definitely needed reminding that the good guys are about to all annihilate each other in one gigantic misunderstanding — and it's all my fault."

"Any time," Alan replied. "Just doing my job."

Theresa didn't bother to respond to that.

She had far too many things on her mind, at the moment.

"I have to get out of here," Theresa told Alan. "Or things could get very bad very quickly. I'll try to get to your shuttle and let you out. Maybe then, you can come back to Cult HQ and explain things to your two chums a little bit better."

Alan shot Theresa a pointed look. "Explain how?"

"By telling them about the nothingness!" Theresa said. "About what happened the day Erodz resigned!"

"We don't know what happened the day he resigned," Alan sighed. "That's what our trap was trying to figure out."

"I'll… oh, I don't know." Theresa turned. "I'll let you out, anyways. Until I can think of something else to do. Just wait for me."

She cut the connection.

Snuck one last peek at Seo, before she left. Cursing herself out inside her head, for not being able to stay and release her.

* * *

_"You have learned well," said Aychron, after they'd left Alfora. "You are a noble warrior, Jenny. And a virtuous, kindhearted person."_

_Their research, there, had revealed much information on the Time Lords — as well as the discovery of an evil monster that Aychron and Jenny needed to race out and defeat, before it slaughtered any more innocents in the countryside._

_"Yes," Jenny muttered. "Everyone does always say Dad's a good person."_

_It was three years after she'd learned the truth about who'd destroyed her ancestors. And what had happened to end the Time War._

_Jenny held a picture of a grinning white-haired gentleman in a velvet opera cape, clipped from the front page of a newspaper she'd found. He had a young, brown-haired girl beside him, also grinning and waving._

_The headline: Doctor And Assistant Save Planet Again._

_"He's saved a lot of planets," Jenny said. "Defeated a lot of monsters. Both before and after the war." She put down the picture. "Perhaps… perhaps he was forced to do it! Perhaps…"_

_"Perhaps, regardless of your dad," said Aychron, gently, "you can be a virtuous and wise hero, by yourself."_

_Jenny didn't answer._

_Aychron leaned down and swooped the picture out of Jenny's hands. Tucking it behind his back._

_"You are not your dad," Aychron said. Looking deep into Jenny's eyes. "You do not need to justify his actions, in order to justify your own."_

_"I… I'm made from him, though," said Jenny. "I was only born because he—"_

_"It doesn't matter how you were, then." Aychron leaned over. "You are different, now. Not standing in his shadow. You are unique. A defender of people, planets, and galaxies. Remember that."_

_Jenny looked up._

_Met Aychron's eyes._

_It was that day — when Jenny had finally believed in_ herself _…_

_That she finally learned to forgive her dad._

* * *

Erodz arrived in the cell, his eyes gleaming with opportunity, a series of laser-tools tucked under his arm. He spread them out before Seo, then gazed up at her face.

She could tell a part of him was relishing in her fear.

Which was all the more reason she had to get out of there, pronto.

"You can't hear me, can you?" Seo tried.

He couldn't.

Obviously couldn't.

"Thought not," Seo muttered.

Erodz grabbed up a laser precision scalpel, chuckling beneath his breath. "Time to remove your power," he said, getting up close to her, the device right against her voice box. "I'll regret not hearing your screams, my enemy. But your thrashes of pain will have to suffice."

She had one chance at this.

Waited until just the second before he turned on the scalpel…

Then, holding her breath, banged her head against his, hard as she could!

Erodz stumbled back, hand slipping on the laser scalpel, slicing the beam sideways through the controls for her restraints.

The whole thing went up in sparks, and her restraints popped open in an instant.

"I _knew_ she was trying to release me!" Seo said, with a grin. "That Theresa! Looks like I actually convinced her."

Then she rushed at Erodz, tackling him to the ground. He rolled, nearly got the upper hand, but Seo grabbed the laser scalpel from where it had dropped, yanked the scalpel insert off the top, and shone it straight in his eyes.

Erodz cried out, hands over his eyes.

And Seo tackled him to the ground. Easily overpowering the now-blind man.

"All right," Seo said, her eyes narrowing. "What's this about? Why do you hate me, and what's so intriguing about my larynx?"

Erodz gave a laugh. "Wax in my ears — a final precaution," he said. "Still can't hear you. Won't look into your eyes. Not even if I could see!"

Seo felt like she wanted to hit her head on something. Grabbed the wax out of his ears, and shoved her face right in his.

"Tell me what this is about!" Seo shouted. "Or I'll make sure the lack of sight is the least of your worries, Erodz!"

Erodz broke down.

Hysterical with laughing and sobbing.

"I know what you did!" Erodz said. Pointing into her face. "I know what you did to me! To everyone! I can feel it!"

"What do you mean, to everyone?" Seo said. "What are you talking about?"

"You look different," said Erodz. "But the energy is the same. Green and glowing, all around you. I remember you, Seo! I know what you did!"

And Seo listened, in horror.

As he told her.


	9. Chapter 9

_The second time Jenny came back to the spot where her ancestral homeland should have been… was at the end of her cultural studies. After she'd learned all she could about what it meant... to be a Time Lady._

_Aychron was a lot older, now. His walk slower, the wrinkles deeper, his posture slouching a little, with time. He tried to walk on his own, but occasionally had to reach out a hand and steady himself, using Jenny as a makeshift cane._

_Jenny looked just the same as she had the day she was born._

_"But I want to see that emptiness, again," Jenny had told Aychron. "Now that I know what should be there. I want to mourn the people, without being afraid of what killed them."_

_And so they'd come out here._

_Again._

_A second time._

_And Jenny was confronted with that emptiness, once more. An emptiness that no longer made her quite so afraid._

_"I wish… I could find Dad, again," said Jenny. "Ask him why he did it." She glanced back at Aychron. "He has to have a reason."_

_"What reason does a god need for destroying a world?" Aychron muttered._

_Jenny gave Aychron a little smile. "Is that what you think of Dad?" she asked. "After all those stories we heard? You think he's some kind of… god?"_

_"A man can act like a god," said Aychron, "and not be one. Just like… a god can act like…" He trailed off. Then shuffled away, muttering beneath his breath._

_Jenny thought about it a long time._

_"No," she said. Pressed her hand against the glass. "Not a god. He was… a soldier. Doing what he had to do."_

_She dropped her head._

_Remembering him, the day she'd met him. The first day of her life._

_"That's why you seemed so disgusted with me, isn't it?" said Jenny, to the air. "Not because I'm nothing like you. But because… I'm exactly like you."_

_It made her feel better._

_About herself._

_About Dad._

_She wondered what had happened to Dad and Martha and Donna. Where they were, now. If she'd ever meet them, again. Did Martha and Donna know what Dad had done?_

_Had they seen this empty spot, too, where Gallifrey should have been? The place where bits of debris floated in space, around what had once been…?_

_Jenny shot her head up._

_Staring._

_"Bits of debris?!" Jenny shook her head. No. Couldn't be. But… there it was!_

_Where once there had been nothing… there were now remains. The rusted, old debris from exploded Dalek battle ships._

_And still no sign of the planet. Or any debris from it._

_"That doesn't make sense," said Jenny. "I spoke to people! I read. I researched. I saw for myself. The Moment annihilated_ everything _. Daleks and Time Lords alike. There was_ nothing _there!"_

_"What are you saying, child?" Aychron asked._

_Jenny spun around. Pointed out the window. "There! It's different, see? As if something changed! As if time itself was—"_

_But she didn't have a chance to pursue the point._

_Or even think about what it meant._

_For that was the very moment that Aychron stumbled, and fell to the floor of the ship with a sickening crunch and crack. The moment that Jenny raced out and tried to give him as much support as she could, scrambling to think of the nearest hospital. The first time she realized Aychron couldn't figure out where they were or what was happening._

_And the first moment Jenny realized… Aychron's legs had become two different sizes._

* * *

Jenny had a plan to rescue Seo.

One she was, so far, managing to execute expertly, causing just the right distractions and bluffing just the right number of guards, so she could get into the headquarters.

Now.

Time to take a small risk.

If Jenny could just locate the main power allocation before the cameras noticed her, she could…

Jenny stopped. Stood in the center of the front hall area of the cult headquarters, looking around herself in bewilderment.

Every single person was unconscious.

In fact, Jenny could feel a little bit of dizziness herself. Could smell the remains of that knock-out gas that had been used on them, back on Totania. Someone must have pumped it through the ventilation ducts. Gotten the whole base knocked out, until…

"Jenny?"

Jenny spun around.

A wide smile on her face, as she raced forwards and swept her sister into a tight hug.

"You rescued yourself!" Jenny cried. Then, pulling out of the embrace, added, "Is Erodz knocked out, too? Have you worked out what's going on? Why he's so powerful and why people won't listen to assertions that he's a maniac?"

Seo hesitated.

"Jenny," Seo said, very softly. "I… think I made a bit of a mistake."

Jenny looked around herself, her guard suddenly up, hand going to her gun. Expecting a whole group of people suddenly springing up, getting ready to whisk Jenny away in Seo's place.

"I thought Erodz was a psychotic maniac!" said Seo. "That Theresa and the others were after _you_ , and only got me by accident. I assumed…" She looked off into the distance. "I should have known. I'm always tripping over my own tail, these days." She paused. Reflecting. "Do animals actually trip over their own tails? Or is it just time travelers?"

"I'm sorry?" said Jenny. "What are you talking about? What's this… mistake?"

"It's Erodz," said Seo. "He was about to slit my throat with a laser. So I managed to get the laser off him. And blinded him with it. Permanently."

Jenny shrugged. "Well, good for you! He was a psychopath. Let's get going."

"No, not good for me!" Seo insisted, grabbing up Jenny by the arms. "I didn't know! I didn't understand why Theresa was so angry at me, or why everyone else was so terrified of me! But it makes sense! It's my fault, Jenny. All my fault!"

"Sorry, wait a minute," Jenny cut in. "Theresa. Who's Theresa?"

And so Seo explained.

Described her to Jenny. Told Jenny about what Theresa had done by the machine, what Theresa had done for Seo in the prison cell, and everything Theresa had said.

Jenny seemed highly disturbed.

"It's… _her_ ," said Jenny. "Again." She clenched her fists. "It's always bloody her! I can't believe this!"

Seo seemed surprised. "Who?"

"That woman — Theresa!" said Jenny. "I've seen her, before! Every time something goes wrong in my life, every time I try but things get mucked up so that I fail… she's always there! Right in the middle of everything."

"But she freed me," said Seo.

"Probably only so things could go wrong down the road," Jenny retorted. "Oh, this is just typical! No longer content with just ruining _my_ life, now she has to go and ruin _yours_!" She threw up her hands. "I mean, what does she want with me? How did she get Alan to work for her? She might not have been directly involved, but I know she had a hand in all the disasters on Erpole, Kora, and Feloch." Her eyes narrowed, her jaw clenched. "She was there when that nutter launched a bomb at a refugee camp. I watched 500 refugees murdered in cold blood, and I'll never forget it. I _know_ she had a hand in that. I just _know_ …!"

Jenny felt her jaw clench, a stream of anger pouring through her, as she turned to Seo.

"And you! Did Erodz hurt you?" Jenny asked. "Oh, I'm going to kill that woman if she let Erodz hurt you. Hunt her down, and…"

"Butterflies!" Seo shouted.

Jenny stopped.

Frowned.

"I'm sorry?" said Jenny.

"I said butterflies," Seo repeated. "That's our problem. Not Theresa. Butterflies."

Jenny nodded, slowly. "Butterflies."

"A whole great big bunch of them!" Seo enthused. "Or… at least… that's my current theory." Her forehead creased, her head tilted down, as she thought it through. "Although… I suppose I can't know for sure until I've been there." She looked back up. Beamed. "But until then, I'm blaming butterflies."

"I don't follow," said Jenny.

"Well, first, there are the _monarch_ butterflies I've squashed," Seo explained. "Lots of them, apparently. Probably more than twelve. That's why the cult's spreading, see? Through all those worlds with all those squashed butterflies!" She made a rapid and nonsensical hand gesture, which Jenny didn't catch. "And then there are the Master butterflies. I'm pretty sure that's where it started. He tortured me, see, on the Valiant. With his hypnotic powers. Perhaps that trauma turns to obsession, at some point." Her eyes grew dark. "And then… there's the Hesero butterfly. And I don't understand what that means or where it came from. But it's the one causing all the trouble."

Jenny felt her mind spinning.

"I'm assuming you will make sense at some point," Jenny said.

Seo gave an irritated sigh. "Butterflies! Chaos theory!" she cried. Flapped her arms, imitating a butterfly. "Wings! Hurricanes! Ray Bradbury and dinosaurs! Is any of this helping?"

Jenny felt a shudder run across her. "You're saying… something we did in the past, on Totania," she said, "has caused…"

"No, not _we_ ," Seo countered, with a sigh. " _You_ didn't get tortured by the Master. It's just _me_! My past turning into my future! Little things compiling to turn into bigger and bigger things — until, at some point in my life, everything will all spiral out of control. That's what Drusilla meant, when she kept talking about multiple-mes!"

And that was when it finally started to occur to Jenny… what was happening.

What Seo meant.

"They didn't get the wrong person," Jenny said. "They got the wrong incarnation of the right person. They wanted… a different you."

"Yes."

"You're paying the consequences for something you haven't done, yet," Jenny clarified. "Something from your own future."

"Yes!" Seo shouted.

Jenny felt absolutely horrified.

"What?" Seo peered at her. "Don't seem so shocked. This sort of thing happens all the time."

"Not to me it doesn't!" Jenny insisted. Held up her hands. "I don't cross my timelines. I'm far too aware what the consequences could be, if it all goes wrong."

Jenny dropped her hands.

As Seo's face fell.

"It's all gone wrong for you, hasn't it?" Jenny guessed.

"Butterflies," Seo pouted.

"Butterflies," Jenny repeated. "All those little things you're doing, right now. Gathering up. Getting bigger and bigger and more important in your mind as you grow older. And eventually driving you mad. That's… what you meant."

Seo didn't answer.

Didn't need to.

"What did you do?" Jenny demanded. "Seo, what did Erodz tell you?"

Seo turned, gestured for Jenny to follow her. "Ask him, yourself," she said. "He might be tied up, restrained, utterly mad and permanently blinded, at the moment. But he remembers every detail about his last encounter with me. And he's happy to share it!"


	10. Chapter 10

"It's you," said Erodz. He gave an insane little laugh. "I feel the heat from your green energy, Seo. You burn like the sun."

"He keeps saying that," Seo complained, walking over to him and propping him up. "It's very annoying."

"You won't control me!" said Erodz, trying to flail against the restraints. "I know your secret. I worked it out. Hesero, you said. But I looked up the records for Hesero. I saw what happened there. You have their power!"

"Whose power?" Seo asked, very slowly and deliberately, as if talking to a very stupid child. "What happened on Hesero? What are you talking about?"

"It shouldn't be possible," Erodz continued. "But you used the power. I can feel it in my mind! You used it, and now I want to use it, too! I'm going to take it from you, and—"

"Forget Hesero," Jenny interrupted. "What happened the last time you met Seo? Can you answer that?"

Erodz stopped laughing.

His whole face going pale.

"Yes," he said. "I remember. I remember… what she did to me…"

* * *

Erodz knew his troubles had all begun with… _her_.

That horrible woman with the sunglasses!

Everything had been going fine — no, better than fine! Choice-Leader Erodz had full control of Tryxoi 7, his people obeyed him, and his guards were over-eager to prove themselves by performing horrible cruelties before he ever even asked. The guns and weaponry were all at his disposal, and there was no way anyone could fight back.

Then _she_ arrived.

Seo.

With her peaceful demonstrations and strategic sabotage. Her stories of hope and freedom infecting his people's minds!

He'd sent people out to kill her at least fifty times, but for some reason, _no one_ could! Anyone he sent after her abandoned him and joined her side. It happened over and over again, and Erodz couldn't work it out!

"I'm going to hunt her down and kill her myself," Erodz promised. Slamming his fist down on the arm of his chair. "I'm going to look into her eyes as she dies, and watch that hope drain out of her completely. Make sure the last thing she sees is me, triumphant, rejoicing in her blood!"

"Yeah, I heard you had women-issues," came the voice from not far away.

Erodz jerked his head up in sudden alarm.

There she was.

Leaning against the far wall, nonchalant, her sunglasses perched on the top of her head, her dark eyes boring into him.

"Guards!" Erodz shouted. "Soldiers!"

"Your guards are all asleep," Seo replied, coolly. "At my suggestion." She flipped her sunglasses down from the top of her head, and they settled on her nose. Their lenses turning transparent and…

And…

Compelling.

Drawing Erodz in. Like he _needed_ to look at them.

"Hypnotic strengtheners," Seo said, advancing towards him, tapping the glasses. "Do you like them? What am I saying — of course you do! Because I said so!"

"I… like…" Erodz found himself saying.

No.

No! He was the mighty Erodz! He would not be subjected to silly mind-games!

"You will never cause my downfall, devil-woman!" Erodz shouted. Grabbing up a gun and aiming it right at her. "I am Choice Leader Erodz. No one can control me."

Seo froze.

Put her hands up in the air.

Erodz felt a smile spreading across his face. "I'm going to enjoy this," he said. Pressed down on the trigger. "Very much."

"Listen: freeze."

The command came from Seo's lips, but it was… different, somehow. The demand rattled through Erodz as if it had physically struck him, as if every syllable was tearing through his mind and making him… tremble.

Terrified.

He wanted to press the trigger. Wanted to kill her dead.

But he found he physically couldn't do it.

"I'm not the devil, Erodz," Seo said, back to her normal voice, as she flipped up her sunglasses to the top of her head, again, and proceeded forwards. Heels clicking against the marble floor. "I'm God. You can feel that, can't you?"

Erodz didn't know what she was. But he felt something from her command, something still lingering. Something big and empty that terrified him.

"What… what have you…?" Erodz said.

Seo shrugged, as she stepped just in front of him, and took the gun from his frozen hands. "A trick I picked up on Hesero," she replied. She disarmed the gun, and took it to pieces. "I've been using it on all you great big bullies in this section of the galaxy, but then… I noticed some unpleasant side effects lingering in some of the population after I left." She tossed the useless gun parts over her shoulder. "Thought I'd try straight hypnosis this time. But it looks like you're too pig-headed for that to stick."

"You can't manipulate me," Erodz hissed. "When my guards wake up, they will find you and massacre you! I will rejoice in the sight of your blood, and…"

"Sadistic, evil, barbaric, and completely nuts," Seo reflected. She gave a small shrug. "And that's why I have to do it this way. No matter what the risk. Because you are — hands down — one of the worst people I have ever met across the universe. And you shouldn't be ruling anyone."

"You're going to overthrow me?" said Erodz. "Begin a revolution?"

Seo grinned, her dark eyes flashing. "No. _You're_ going to do that for me."

Erodz felt his blood run cold. "You can't—"

"Listen," Seo demanded, in that voice that tore through Erodz. "When I snap my fingers, you will change. You'll give up your position as dictator, and organize a democratically elected government in its place. The elections will be fair — _you_ will be the one to make sure they're fair. After that, you will retire, start doing charity work and community service, and _never_ engage in the political arena _ever_ again."

Erodz wouldn't.

He just _wouldn't_! He'd _never_ do something like that! He'd never, ever…!

Then Seo snapped her fingers.

And Erodz did all of it. He couldn't stop himself. He was working on automatic, his mind gripped with a holy terror, a dread he couldn't shake off…

* * *

Jenny stared at Seo, her jaw dropping. As she heard Erodz's story.

"But what happened on Hesero?" Seo asked Erodz, again. "What did I mean?"

"The power!" said Erodz. "You used the power. I figured it out, you see. I remembered what you'd told me. Side effects in the population. The terror. The emptiness." He gave another insane laugh. "It was you, Seo! They were all afraid of you! That's why they believed it, when I told them. Because _you'd_ caused it in the first place!"

Jenny stepped forwards. "Seo caused this 'emptiness' people keep feeling? This blind terror?!"

"Holy terror," Erodz confirmed. "People do whatever you say. Seized by holy terror and holy dread. Just like the others did on Hesero!"

Seo looked like she wanted to rip out her own hair. "Just like _who_ did on Hesero?!" she shouted.

"The Scourge," said Alan, walking into the room. He put his hands into his pockets. "It sounds to me like… he must be talking about the Scourge. Only thing that makes sense."

Jenny and Seo spun around.

And froze, when they saw Alan.

"Hesero," Alan muttered. Musing it over. He gave a small laugh. "Got to admit. I really wasn't expecting that."

"How'd you get out?" Jenny growled, her fury rising.

"And how do you know what happened in my future?" Seo added. She put her hands on her hips. "Have you met me? And…" with a wince, "I didn't snog you, right? Drusilla said I snogged her, in my future. Something about… yo-yos. And Daleks."

Alan raised his hands. "Actually, I know about Hesero from your future-companions," he said. He turned to Jenny. "Both of yours."

Seo and Jenny looked at one another.

Then back at Alan.

"Explain," said Jenny.

"Look, it's a bit complicated," said Alan, with a sigh. "But the long and short of it is… when you're both a lot older, you," pointing at Seo, "will wind up with a boy companion. And you," pointing at Jenny, "will wind up with a girl companion. The two of you will get into trouble, together, and the companions will meet. Fall in love. And wind up getting married."

Both sisters frowned.

"I know the couple," Alan explained. "They're quite nice. We have tea every other Sunday, together. Catch up on Earth Empire news and events. Exchange stories of the mad times we had, fighting monsters with our not-quite-human time traveling friends."

Jenny fidgeted, uneasily. "I shouldn't be hearing this," she said. "Really shouldn't be hearing this. I don't want to know my own future."

"Why not? I think it's brilliant!" said Seo, beaming. "We become adventuring, world-saving match-makers in our old age!"

"Hesero was where… the couple… had their wedding," Alan continued. "It was also where the two of you wound up having to rescue them from some eighth-dimensional beings called the Scourge."

"The Scourge," Jenny repeated.

"Yes, they're… insect-like creatures, by all accounts," Alan explained. "Once upon a time, they tried to invade the universe en masse, apparently, but were stopped by a time traveler and his friends, Bernice and Ace. The Scourge are now only strong enough to make the occasional hop into our reality, grab themselves a couple of humans, bring them back across the dimensional chasm, and torture them — as was done on Hesero. The Scourge feed off the pain and fear their victims feel."

"A hell dimension!" Seo cried. "Oh, I know all about hell dimensions. Mom's told me stories!"

"But _that's_ not the important bit," Alan insisted.

Jenny waited for it.

"The… couple I know," said Alan. "Your future companions. They told me about a rather unique ability the Scourge have. Apparently, the Scourge can control people using a sort of 'holy terror' that's ingrained into their voices. If, for example, they say, 'Listen: put your finger in your ear', or 'Listen: you will resign power at once,' you'll _have_ to do it. Not even the strongest mind can fight it."

"Greater than hypnosis," said Erodz. "Greater than god! Powers of the devil itself."

"Yes. I never made the connection between that and this, before. But if he mentioned Hesero…" Alan gestured at Erodz. "Well. It sounds to me like Seo learned from her meeting with the Scourge. And picked up some of their tricks."

Seo's eyes went wide. "I can do things like that?!"

"It sounds impossible to me," Jenny muttered. "If these beings are eighth dimensional, then of course you and I couldn't…"

"Oh, I'm impossible in all sorts of ways!" Seo cut in. She cleared her throat. Then, in her deepest voice, commanded, "Listen: take one step forwards."

No one moved.

Seo's face fell. "Well… maybe it's something people can only do when they're old," she muttered.

"So… that's the whole story?" Jenny said, turning on Alan. "You and your chums — our future companions — were infiltrating the cult so you could use it as a trap to ensnare Seo's future-self, at which point you'd bundle her out of there and get her to tell you what she did to cause the emptiness and how to undo it, and… what? None of you thought I'd show up with the past-version, instead?"

"That's the long and the short of it," Alan muttered, with a sigh. He looked up at Jenny. "I really am sorry. But I was doing it with the best of intentions."

"Rubbish."

Alan frowned. "I'm sorry?"

"Rubbish!" Jenny snapped. She stalked forwards, eyes narrowed. "I recognized your little friend, Alan. This… 'Theresa' of yours. I've seen her all across my past. So unless my future companion has gotten her hands on a time machine and set out to purposely ruin my life… you're lying. About all of it."

Alan seemed completely taken aback.

"Ruin your life?" he said. "What are you talking about?"

"The refugee camp?" Jenny prompted. "The lost plains of Varor? Oh, how about the death of Chvorin on Erpole! You remember Chvorin. Our friend."

Alan clearly did.

"That… doesn't have anything to do with anything!" Alan insisted. "Look, Jenny, your sister has just caused twelve star systems to worship a murderous, psychotic maniac — and we have no idea how many or what other planets she's affected like this. Believe it or not — this isn't about you!"

"Listen: stick your finger up your nose," Seo tried, again.

No one obeyed her.

"So… let me get this straight," Jenny said, ignoring Seo. "One day, someone turned up in your life, out of the blue! Claimed to be my future-companion. And you _believed_ her?!"

"It's more complicated than that," said Alan.

Jenny gritted her teeth. "Yes, that's what you always say," she replied, "when you're justifying your actions around beautiful women who _aren't_ me. You bloody idiot!"

"Listen: stop fighting," Seo attempted, again, using a slightly different tone of voice.

"This coming from the person who kept saying I was 'like a brother'," Alan retorted, pointing at Jenny. "The woman who refused to take things further than just hand-holding and cuddling, but still became outraged at the thought of my fancying anyone else!"

"So you'd rather I'd just left you to be seduced by the Plotaran Blood Drinker in the hologuise?!" Jenny threw her arms into the air. "Fine! All right! Next time I notice you're about to be brutally murdered by someone you're chatting up at a pub, I'll be sure to look the other way."

Seo sighed.

Slumped down, beside Erodz.

"At least people will listen to me at some point in my future," Seo told the captive beside her. "Perhaps that's what drives me mad. Makes me think I'm… God." She gave a small laugh. "God?! Just look at me now! I can't even break up a fight between two people who actually really fancy one another."

"Why?" said Erodz.

Seo paused. Turned to him. "I'm sorry?"

"Why?" Erodz repeated. "Why are they fighting? How do you know they fancy one another? Why can't I see and is it ever going to wear off? Am I ever going to see, again? Why can't I stop myself from doing whatever you want me to do? How come I know you're the same person when you look, sound, and act completely different? What's…?"

Seo jumped to her feet. Hand over her mouth.

"But you sound like Xander!" Seo cried. "After I failed to hypnotize him! What if…?" Her mind raced, suddenly overcome with a brilliant idea. "Erodz! Do you still feel it? That emptiness?"

"I…" Erodz frowned. "No. I don't." Paused. Then, with a cruel laugh, added, "I'm not afraid of you, anymore. You harpy. And I'm going to slaughter you. String you up and drain you of every inch of blood, until you're pleading for an end and you know that only _I_ can give you—"

"Then it worked!" Seo said, jumping and clapping, excitedly. "I can reverse it! Like what I was trying to do with the Master's psychic signal, back before the Valiant! Set up some sort of psychic network, and all I have to do, to cancel out the signal… is to just be really rubbish at sending it, in the first place!"

"…left your dirty socks all over the flat!" Jenny was shouting at Alan. "Do you have any idea how disgusting that is?"

"They weren't dirty, they were clean," Alan snapped. "I was laying them out to dry!" He put his hands into his pockets. "And it was _my_ flat, anyways. Or are you forgetting that you seemed to consider me a source of rent-free living quarters?"

"You utter prig!" said Jenny. "Do you have any idea what I was going through—?!"

Seo raced into the center, shoving the two apart. "All right! Interrupting sister alert!" She pointed at herself. "Everyone pay attention to me, now! Thank you."

Jenny and Alan kept glaring at one another.

But didn't say a word.

"While you two were talking about socks," Seo explained, "I've been extremely clever. Worked out exactly how to reverse all the effects of my future-self's brainwashing, and restore everyone to their former selves." She gestured at Erodz. "Observe!"

"I'm going to put my hands around your throat and squeeze the life out of you," Erodz was continuing, as if Seo had never interrupted him. "You miserable little wretch. You stole my power and replaced it with a flimsy little democracy! I'm going to love tearing you—"

"See?" said Seo. "Right back to his normal homicidally insane, evil-dictator self. With none of the bits about emptiness or holy terror!" She grinned, bouncing on her toes. "I just need to set up a psychic satellite system like the Archangel Network. Like the Master did, when he took over the Earth! That'll give me enough range to cover everyone that the future, much-more-powerful version of me has already mucked about with."

Alan hesitated.

But Jenny was already thinking up ways to make it happen. "I could use the satellites already in orbit," she said, rushing over to a table and brushing aside papers, scribbling across the surface. "Intensify and amplify the psychic field of the planet. Force a sort of focused…"

She continued to ramble, faster than anyone but Seo could follow.

Alan backed away. Confused.

"Does this mean… she forgives me?" he asked Seo, in a whisper.

Seo thought a moment. "Not yet," she decided. Looked back at Alan. "But give it time! Butterfly flaps do turn into hurricanes, eventually, you know."


	11. Chapter 11

It all went surprisingly quickly.

And, the moment Seo sent out her message, the effects were immediate.

The power-mad dictators she'd overthrown suddenly stopped doing their charity-work. They began to realize they'd been tricked and used and manipulated, and tried to seize power, again.

It should have been utter chaos.

Except that — if you believe the rumors — a young, married couple, one of whom looked like she was straight out of the 1920's, the other whom belonged to a species that had evolved half way across the universe, both used an intricate and brilliant plan to quell the uprisings. A plan created ahead of time, by someone else, for just this occurrence.

A plan which resulted in their arrest of the dictators, before they could take back power.

And transported the dictators to Volag-Noc — the prison world.

Of course, those are just rumors.

You can't believe everything you hear.

* * *

"I can't believe you rescued yourself, before I could get around to rescuing you!" Jenny was laughing, onboard Alan's ship, heading back to Totania. "And saved the day before I could! None of my companions have ever done that!" She raised up a glass of wine, to toast Seo. "Here's to easy adventures!"

They all clinked glasses.

Drank the wine.

"Easy adventures," Seo corrected, sipping the wine, "and the slightly insane future-versions of yourself who run around, causing them to happen."

"I think that only happens to you, Seo," Jenny pointed out.

Alan raised his eyebrows. "Does it?"

"You'd never catch future me racing around purposely trying to cause temporal paradoxes," Jenny replied. Her speech slurring a little, as she took another drink of wine. "Definitely not!"

Seo waggled a finger at her. "You're just jealous!"

Jenny leaned across the table. Pointing at Seo. "You," she said. Paused, gathering her thoughts. "You…. Don't tell me future-you is the one racing around… ruining my life."

"Not me!" Seo insisted.

She was wavering, now, too. Her speech filled with giggles, and slurring at the edges.

"Because… if that's you," said Jenny, drooping down against the table, "then… then I'm… I'm gonna be… really…"

Her eyes drooped shut.

And she fell asleep.

Seo, beside her, did the same. Giving one last little giggle, before drifting off.

Alan sat, alone, at the table. His untouched wine in his glass. The two sleeping people, just beside him. "I suppose you're going to tell me that was completely necessary," he muttered.

"If we want to avoid messy temporal paradoxes," said the woman who'd called herself Theresa, emerging from the shadows, "then yes. Absolutely necessary." She paused, by the table. Looking down at the two sleeping sisters. "If Seo had remembered this — remembered that her brainwashing techniques would result in Erodz gaining untold power and being worshiped as a god — she'd never have brainwashed those leaders in the first place."

"But that's good," said Alan.

"But if she hadn't brainwashed them, how could she have known not to? See. Paradox." The woman known as Theresa shook her head. Short black hair bobbing with the motion. "No. This way's best. Make sure they don't remember, then drop them back on Totania."

Alan hesitated.

Then, softly, put in, "You've been doing this a lot, haven't you? Invading your own past."

The woman who wasn't actually Theresa froze. Caught out.

"The younger you," said Alan. "She recognized… this face of yours. She said you were around for all her greatest mistakes. She blames you for causing them. Ruining her life."

The black-haired, blue eyed woman closed her eyes.

Didn't answer.

"Did you?" said Alan. "Did you… cause the explosion that killed those refugees? Did you go back to when Aychron was still alive, and make sure you'd learn all those lessons? Did you really cause Chvorin's death, on Erpole?"

The woman started, violently, at the last one. "Chvorin?!" Her face broke in bitter pain. "I haven't done that one, yet. I… didn't want to know about it."

Alan's eyebrows raised. "So you really _were_ there, Jenny," he confirmed, to the woman. "You… made those things happen. Turned all your own past-victories into past-defeats, in some sort of twisted—"

"They were _always_ defeats," Future-Jenny replied. She began to pace the room, slowly. Her blue eyes fixed on the ground. "That's why I never forgot them. Why I kept going over them, again and again, in my head, berating myself for causing them." She paused. Then, in a lower voice, "Ultimately… it's why I wound up spilling details about all of those things to my sister… late one night, at a pub in the 27th century."

Alan didn't understand.

"Do you think I normally wander around, invading my own past?" Future-Jenny demanded. She pointed at her younger self. "No. I'm with her. This sort of thing should never — ever — happen. Even you telling past-me and Seo about Kate and Gnorl getting married on Hesero was dodgy enough."

"Then why…?"

"Because Seo _wasn't_ drunk, at that pub, when I spilled the beans," Future-Jenny replied. "She remembered every word I said. Used them as reference points. Went through my personal timeline. And… undid my past mistakes, for me."

Alan didn't know what to say.

"A part of me loves her to bits for that," Future-Jenny added. Giving a small smile. "Just knowing that, even through her madness, she wants to help me. But…" She shook her head. Drooping, her face cast in shadow. "I had to redo them. Go back in time and… make sure I'd make those same mistakes again."

"But why?" said Alan. "If they've been undone… that's better!"

For a long time, Future-Jenny was silent.

Nothing but the hum of the engines, in the background, playing between them.

"There was this… villain, you know," said Future-Jenny, at long last. "Broke into Dad's tomb. Tried to rewrite his past. Turn all his victories into defeats."

Alan wasn't sure what to say to this. "I'm… sorry."

"And I just keep wondering — which is worse?" said Future-Jenny. "What the Great Intelligence did… or what Seo did?" She wiped some hair out of her eyes. "The first destroys you in the past. The second… destroys you in the present."

"I don't understand," said Alan.

"My failures — they hurt, course," said Future-Jenny. "But they made me learn. They made me grow. They made me… _me._ Take them away… and maybe I'll be nothing."

"You'll always be Jenny," Alan argued.

Future-Jenny shook her head. Stepped a little closer to her younger-self. "Will I?" she whispered.

She reached out to touch her younger self.

Then stopped.

Yanked back her hand.

Alan could see the weight of a thousand horrible decisions, weighing Jenny down.

"And… Aychron?" he asked. Voice barely above a whisper. "Did you… have to… make sure he… still…?"

Future-Jenny shook her head. "Seo had that much respect, at least. Let Aychron… remain dead." Her eyes fell on the sleeping Seo. "I think… perhaps… it's because of what happened with her mum, on Earth. What's about to happen, from _this_ Seo's point of view." She swallowed, hard. "She never forgot that."

* * *

_"Or like that time on Reyola," Jenny said, helping Aychron down the stairs. Steadying him, whenever he lurched and was about to fall. "Remember? I'll never forget how you faced down that rabid Pikol with just a baguette. I was sure you were doomed!"_

_A shadow of confusion spread across Aychron's face._

_He looked around himself._

_Trying to reorient himself to where he was. What was happening. "Yes," he said. "Baguette…"_

_His eyes stared off into the distance._

_Unseeing._

_As his body half-collapsed, on top of Jenny._

_She caught him, using her strength to support him, until he could regain his footing and his composure. He breathed, heavily. Then noticed Jenny, beside him._

_"We're… going to the doctor," Aychron said._

_"Yes, that's it!" Jenny agreed. Helping him struggle down the remaining steps, and out onto the street. "Dr. Otman. You remember — we met him on Umon, saved him from a horde of hyper-intelligent rats?"_

_Aychron didn't remember._

_Sometimes, he didn't even remember enough to maintain his pride and hide his confusion._

_"We'll be all right," Jenny promised him. "You'll be all right. Dr. Otman thinks he knows what's wrong. He'll make you go back to normal, again."_

_But it wasn't that simple._

_Not at all._

_"He should have told you about this right at the beginning," said Dr. Otman. He called up the med-scans onto the screen. Pointed. "Massive temporal erosion aging certain parts of the body. While others… are like a young child's. That's what's wrong with his legs — they're not just different lengths, they're different ages."_

_"Should have told me right at the beginning?" Jenny shook her head. "I don't understand."_

_Dr. Otman sighed. "I'm sorry," he said. "The amount of temporal decay indicates… he's had this for years." He paused, his face creased in sorrow. "Knowing him… he was probably too proud to tell you he was suffering."_

_Jenny felt her hearts sink._

_"How long has it been there?" Jenny asked, her voice just a whisper._

_Dr. Otman waved the med-files off the screen. Clasped his hands on the desk, in front of her. "Jenny," he said. "I'm sorry if this is a difficult subject but… keeping in mind your cultural heritage… have you ever returned to the spot where Gallifrey used to be?"_

_Jenny nodded._

_"That's when it started," said Dr. Otman. "There's… a reason no one goes there."_

_A sick dread welled up inside of Jenny. "What do you mean?"_

_"Rumor has it, the weapon used to end the Time War was… terrifyingly complex," said Dr. Otman. "Destructive to a degree none of us could even imagine. The planet was literally vaporized, in a single second. Vanished, as if it had never been there. Leaving behind… a lethal form of temporal radiation, in its wake."_

_Jenny's eyes went wide._

_"You're probably immune," said Dr. Otman. "Since your biology works so differently. But Aychron… isn't." He shook his head. "I'm sorry. If he'd told you, back when the illness first started, I'd have been able to cure it. But at this stage… the radiation's already gotten inside his brain. There's no going back."_

_"No," Jenny said. Slammed her fists down. "I can't accept that. It's not fair! It's not right!" She leaned over, glaring at him. "Fix it."_

_"I'm sorry…"_

_"Fix it!" Jenny screamed. "Fix it! Fix it, now!"_


	12. Chapter 12

"Seo?"

Seo started awake. Her face breaking into a wide smile, as she found herself sat next to the hospital bed in which her mom was sitting up. "Mom!" She threw her arms around her, then hesitated. Tugged herself away, suddenly worried. "What is it? What have they found? Are you all better, again?"

Mom looked down at her arms. "Well, I haven't turned orange, like all the other Toto-people," she said. "So that's a plus on the Buffy-side. And I'm definitely in favor of the lack-of-weird-alien-probes policy they have at this hospital. It would have been way too X-files, otherwise."

"So it worked!" Seo cried. "They cured you!"

"Actually," said Dr. Otman, appearing above them both. "Your mum… isn't sick."

Seo frowned.

Mom just rolled her eyes. "Totally expected that one." She folded her arms. "So come on, Space Dude. Hit me with the it's-all-in-your-head and seeing-mystical-Key-energy-isn't-a-real-symptom."

"That's not what I meant," said Dr. Otman. He tapped his fingers against the file. "Ms. Summers… since you arrived here, you've had no headaches. No dizziness. No confusion. No disturbances or symptoms of any kind. You appear to be fine."

"But she had them before," Seo said.

"There are certain illnesses," Dr. Otman continued, "that can be cured using a harmless dose of temporal radiation. A brief trip through time. That sort of thing. For some of the Amethyst Viruses… temporal radiation can be the only treatment possible." He gave them a reassuring smile. "It's possible that… by just arriving here… you've already cured your mum, Seo."

Seo perked up.

Hopeful.

Mom just gave a bitter laugh. "Yeah, maybe in the Serendipity Dimension," Mom said. Crossed her arms. "But I'm Buffy. Things don't just randomly get better for me. You're talking to the person who managed to recover from actual-buried-in-the-ground death, and ended up nearly destroying the universe because of it."

Dr. Otman frowned.

"If this illness thing's gotten magically cured," Mom continued, "then I'm guessing it's caused some massive freak-chain-reaction thingy that's about to end the world. Or else… it hasn't gotten magically cured, and I'll be dead in a few months."

"We can keep you here for more observation," Dr. Otman offered. "If you…"

"Oh, no!" said Mom, jumping out of bed. "No way, ever! First of all, I don't know what kind of medical insurance you guys take around here, but I'm pretty sure mine expired several thousand years ago. And second of all, if I'm gonna die," she smoothed down her hair, so she was poised and ready for action, "I'm doing it on the planet I've spent my life defending. That's my final wish."

"Mom!" Seo said, trying to drag her back.

But Mom was having none of it.

"No more fancy space-hospitals!" Mom insisted. "Martha's the only one who's gotten close to figuring out what's going on with me, so… I'm sticking with her."

Seo couldn't convince her otherwise.

Not even when Jenny walked in the room, fresh from visiting the space ship time machine she'd built, which had been left here in this planet's past back when she'd first met Seo — and was told the news.

Her whole body going completely still, as she listened to the verdict.

She turned back to Dr. Otman.

"I'm sorry," Dr. Otman said. "Buffy Summers isn't sick, Jenny. I've done every test I can. While she's been here, there's been absolutely nothing wrong with her."

"The headaches," said Jenny. "The confusion. The…"

"We've observed her for three days," said Dr. Otman. "She's displayed no symptoms whatsoever. In fact…" Flipping through the charts. "…she has one of the best immune systems I've ever seen. Almost up-to-par with yours, Jenny."

Jenny didn't answer.

"There is one other possibility," said Dr. Otman, closing the charts, again. "It could be… environmental. Something on her home planet that's negatively affecting her biology."

Buffy blew a raspberry. "Nope. Sorry. Not buying it."

"If the symptoms return, when you get home," said Dr. Otman, "I'd suggest moving off-world. It might be the safest thing, in the long-run…"

Buffy turned on them. "What part of 'I want to die on Earth' didn't you guys understand?!" She clenched her fists. "That's my home. It's where my friends are. Where my family is. It's where my species decided to ditch the bananas and the trees and go all with the evolution and the standing upright!" She stepped forwards. "If I'm gonna die — I'm okay with that. I mean, it's not like I haven't done it before. But I'm dying on Earth. End of discussion."

"Then… I'll talk to Martha!" Seo proposed. "Maybe… Jenny and I can go out, find cures from the future, and bring them back to you, on Earth!" She turned to Jenny. "Or…"

Then drifted off.

As she caught the expression on Jenny's face.

"You're… not coming with us?" Seo asked. Her voice suddenly very small and scared.

Jenny sighed. Her hand on Seo's shoulder. "Your mum needs you," she whispered. Darting a glance over at Buffy. "And I saw what happened last time you took me to Earth. With the jealousy. I don't want that to happen, again — not now. Not until she's better."

Seo felt tears well up in her eyes. But didn't let herself cry.

"You'll make her well again," Jenny said. "I'm sure. But… you can't get distracted by issues with me, while you're doing it."

"Will… we ever see each other again?" Seo asked.

Jenny gave a small laugh. "I don't know how or why," she said, "but somehow… I'm sure we will. Over and over and over again."

Seo gave a shy little smile.

"Take care of your mum," said Jenny, as Seo turned and headed back towards Buffy. Jenny waved them off. "I'll see you around!"

She watched them go.

As her face drooped into a sort of sad loneliness.

"You can't bear to watch it happen, again, can you?" Dr. Otman said. His voice so low, Jenny just barely picked it up. "That's the real reason you sent them away. Because you remember… those three years with Aychron. At the end."

She did.

* * *

_"I thought you said you weren't going to stay on Totania," said Alan, helping Jenny move her stuff into his flat._

_Jenny paused. Her eyes glued on the box in her hands._

_"Aychron is… sick," she explained. "He never told me. Too proud. By the time I noticed… it was too late to cure him. Normally, by this stage of the illness, he'd been dead in a few months." She swallowed, hard. "But… Dr. Otman said he knows a treatment. So Aychron will live quite a bit longer."_

_"And to do that… you won't be able to travel around anymore?" Alan guessed._

_Jenny didn't answer._

_"Look, I know it's not much," said Alan, taking the box from her hands, "but… anything you need. Just ask."_

_She looked up._

_Met his eyes._

_"Anything," said Alan. "I'm here."_

* * *

"It was my fault, with Aychron," said Jenny. "I had to stay with him. I had to watch as he… died, in front of me."

"It's said… that was the curse of your people." Dr. Otman put aside Buffy's chart. "You live so long. See so much. But… everything has its time, eventually. And you always see it."

"Yes," said Jenny.

* * *

_"How is he?" said Alan, when Jenny returned to the living room, and slumped down onto the couch._

_"I've finally got him back to sleep," said Jenny. She curled into Alan, her eyes drifting shut. "He kept thinking it was morning. Wanting to get out and do things." She gave a yawn, and curled up even tighter into Alan._

_Alan let her._

_His fingers running through her hair._

_"This is the first time I've ever seen you tired," he said. "I assumed your race didn't sleep at all."_

_"You assumed wrong," said Jenny. Her eyes closed. "One year of this, and I'm getting tired. Another year of this… and I'll probably be able to sleep the full 8 hours a human does." She sighed, a little contentedly. "Expect a lot more sleeping in future."_

_Alan smiled down at her._

_"I look forwards to it."_

_Jenny said nothing. Her breathing so dainty and delicate, across Alan's skin._

_"You look… beautiful, when you're asleep," he said. "So beautiful."_

_But she didn't hear._

_Was already fast asleep._

* * *

"Three years," said Jenny. "Three years, watching him die. Three years under that stupid Recco dictator, having to stay quiet and not draw attention to myself, in case I hurt Aychron. Three years of…" She stopped. Her eyes drifting to the ground.

"He was a good man," said Dr. Otman. "He lived a long life. A wonderful life."

"He taught me to be me," said Jenny. "And it killed him. That's why… I couldn't leave him. It's why…"

She'd been brave.

She had to be.

"I spent three years," said Jenny, "facing every day knowing… I was seeing the shadow of Aychron. And missing him, bitterly, because I remember… what he used to be."

* * *

_"Rebecca?" said Aychron._

_Jenny rushed over to help him walk. Both his legs were short and stumpy, now, like a little boy's. Still different lengths. His hands were far too withered and aged. She made a mental note to check his heart and blood pressure. She never knew what age his heart was, at what time._

_His mind… was always old._

_Too old._

_"Jenny," Jenny reminded him. "Remember? We met on Holdax 3. I followed you up a mountain, so you could fight some monsters."_

_"Why aren't you fighting monsters, anymore?" said Aychron, with a hint of that sternness he'd used, back when he'd been teaching her. "You irresponsible child! What did I ever see in you?"_

_Jenny bit her lower lip, to avoid the tirade she wanted to give him._

_Reminding herself… he was sick… he didn't know any better…_

_"I'm doing my best," Jenny told him. "But I'm trying to make sure you're all right, too."_

_"And doing a miserable job of it," Aychron muttered. He stumbled, and Jenny caught him. "You're always off fighting monsters, you know — you're never around… when I… need…"_

_He drifted off._

_And left the thought unfinished._

_"I'm cold," said Aychron. "The cold air… isn't quite right… for the soul in…" He paused. Suddenly confused. Disorientated. "Rebecca?"_

_"Jenny," Jenny corrected, again. "I'll get you some hot soup. The kind you like."_

_She went into the kitchen._

_"I hate my life," Jenny said. Kicked the countertop, in frustration. "I hate domestics. And I hate this!"_

_She clenched her fists, breathing hard, for a few minutes._

_Trying to get control of her anger._

_Ten minutes later, she came out with the soup._

_Knowing… whether she hated it or not… she didn't have a choice. She had to do what she had to do._

* * *

"He died not knowing my name," Jenny said. "Kept calling me… Rebecca. And I never even knew who 'Rebecca' really was to him."

"I'm sorry," said Dr. Otman. "I wish I could have done more."

"You did more than anyone else ever did for us," said Jenny. "No one else had any idea what the illness could be. You knew. You helped. You kept him alive… for years."

Dr. Otman gave her a kind smile. "And you stayed by him that whole time. You were… unspeakably brave, Jenny."

"But I don't want to be brave, anymore," Jenny replied. Shuddered, as she watched, through the window, as Seo and Buffy entered Oliver, and left the planet. "This time… I just want to run."

* * *

_Alan held her, at Aychron's funeral._

_As Jenny watched the tomb being buried in the ground, on Yazidios. Aychron's home world._

_"And so… as day falls to night," the Lngobrin Funerium read out, "as one year falls to the next, one decade to the next, one century or one millennia to the one that supersedes it — we remember you."_

_Alan helped Jenny over to Aychron's graveside._

_As she held the empathy bead in her hand. So tight, her knuckles turned white._

_"All people, all eras, all life must fall," Jenny said, placing her empathy bead down on the ground. Covering it in soil. "But your memory endures forever."_

_Remembering the times they had together._

_The things he'd taught her. The moments they'd shared, trying to uncover the truth behind Jenny's culture and ancestors. The things he'd given up, to be her role model and mentor._

_"So ends the Fall of the First," said the Lngobrin._

_Alan helped Jenny up._

_Jenny looked on at the grave of her dearest friend and closest companion since nearly the day she was born. Swallowed, hard._

_"So ends the Fall of the First," Jenny repeated. Closed her eyes. "Goodbye, Aychron. I started missing you three years ago."_


	13. Epilogue

In Cardiff, Buffy stumbled under the pain of yet another headache.

Jack caught her.

"When I said you'd fall for my charm, I didn't think you'd do it literally," Jack told her, with a wink.

Buffy shoved him away.

Frustrated.

Up ahead of them, Gwen, Ianto, and Alison were struggling to restrain the alien that looked like an oversized hamster with fangs, who'd been shot with a tranquilizer… but was taking longer to be sedated than anyone had thought.

Seo was flittering around.

Trying to talk to it.

"Is your home world a nice planet?" Seo asked. She gestured at Buffy. "I'm looking for a nice, Earth-like planet for my mom to settle on. Where are you from?"

"I will destroy humanity!" the alien roared. Striking out with its teeth.

"So… not a very nice planet, then?" Seo double checked, darting out of the way. "Not pretty or anything? No reasonable real estate values or good public schools nearby?"

The alien roared. Struck out, again. "My planet makes this one look like a dung-heap!"

Seo's face lit up. "Really? Tell me about it!"

Buffy hid her face in her hands. "Is she going to do this with every alien we meet?"

Jack just grinned.

And raced off to help his team.

Ten minutes later, the alien was knocked out and restrained in the back of the Torchwood van. Everyone else was piled in the front, heading back to the Plass.

And Seo was talking.

"…economy completely based on beating people up!" Seo enthused. "Which is perfect for Mom, because she's the Slayer. And a lot stronger than everyone else there. She could probably afford a house or something."

Alison snickered. "Love your economic planning, Seo."

"It's supposedly quite a lovely planet," Seo continued, turning to Buffy. "Or so says the alien bent on destroying humanity. And you'd only have to wear a pressure suit for a quarter of the year, to survive. Sounds perfect!"

Buffy closed her eyes, annoyed. "For the last time," she gritted through her teeth, "I am not moving off this planet. Not to the beat-people-up world. Not to the hallucinogenic-pollen world. And not to that world you found full of T-Rex sized super-robots."

"How about the one Seo found whose surface was composed of boiling magma?" Alison proposed. "That was my personal favorite."

"I am staying on Earth!" Buffy shouted.

She thought she'd made her point very admirably. At least, Seo stopped hounding her for a little while, Alison stopped making snarky comments, and Torchwood got on with securing and interrogating the alien.

Then came the moment Buffy got back to London.

And found a new arrival waiting for her, in her apartment.

"Are you okay?!" Dawn cried, springing up from the dining room table. Her face looked partially terrified, and partially furious. "And why the hell didn't you tell me you were sick?! No, I mean… bed rest. Tons of bed rest! And… chicken soup. And… and…" shouting, "…and _don't you dare ever_ _keep stuff like this from me again_!"

Buffy looked over at Seo.

Who shuffled, awkwardly. Not looking at her mom. Which explained who'd told Dawn everything, and how Dawn had gotten here at the speed of one time machine.

"First thing, we've gotta make sure this isn't a tumor or whatever," said Dawn, putting an arm around Buffy and leading her to bed. "Then we get you the best medical treatment ever, with no chance of any complications or surgery trauma or…!"

Yeah.

Being sick just kept getting funner and funner.


End file.
